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"When  you  leave,  please  leave  this  book 

Because  it  has  been  said 
"Sver'thing  comes  t'  him  who  waits 

Except  a  loaned  book." 


OLD    YORK     LIBRARY   -   OLD     YORK     FOUNDATION 


— > 


THE    STORY    OF    THE    STATES 

EDITED    BY 

ELBRIDGE   S    BROOKS 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/storyofnewyorkOObroo 


ROBERT     UENSON     READING     THE    CONSTITUTION,    APRIL    20,    I777. 


Page  133. 


THE   STORY   OF  THE   STATES 


THE  STORY  OF  NEW  YORK 


BY 

ELBRIDGE   S    BROOKS 


Illustrations  by  L  J  Bridgman 


BOSTON 
D   LOTHROP   COMPANY 

FRANKLIN    AND    HAWLEY    STREETS 


Copyright,  1888, 

BY 

D.    Lothrop    Company. 


BERWICK    A    6MITH,    PRINTERS,    BOSTON. 


PREFACE. 


It  is  the  purpose  of  this  story  of  the  State  of  New  York  to 
indicate  in  outline  rather  than  in  detail  the  stages  of  growth 
through  which  the  Commonwealth,  from  a  purely  mercantile 
venture  in  a  newly-discovered  world,  advanced  to  its  present 
imperial  position  in  a  sisterhood  of  sovereign  States.  Against 
the  background  of  historic  facts  is  thrown  this  record  of  a 
hypothetical  Knickerbocker  family,  the  members  of  which 
never  attained  to  the  eminence  of  power,  wealth,  or  official 
station,  but  remained  through  all  the  stages  of  national  de- 
velopment ever  the  same  simple  folk  —  active  workers  in  their 
humble  sphere  but,  with  thousands  like  them,  factors  in  the 
advancing  career  of  a  mighty  State. 

Fragmentary  as  such  sketches  must  necessarily  be,  the  author 
trusts  that  they  may  serve  to  emphasize,  in  a  novel  way,  certain 
historic  happenings  in  the  various  epochs  that  mark  the  con- 
tinual progress  of  the  Empire  State  from  its  day  of  small  things. 
If  these,  in  turn,  shall  awaken  in  American  readers  a  deeper 
interest  in  the  more  comprehensive  histories  of  their  nation,  or 
of  the  States  that  stand  as  its  component  parts,  the  purpose  of 
the  author  will  have  been  fully  served. 

We  need,  as  a  people,  to  know  more  of  ourselves.  The  story 
of  American  progress  is  builded  upon  matters  of  even  greater 
importance  than  its  records  of  wars,  of  politics,  and  of  men  of 
renown.  Between  the  lines  of  every  history  should  be  read  the 
unwritten  but  not  less  notable  story  of  the  people.  The  family 
and  descendants  of  Teunis  Jansen,  the  honest  burgher  of  the 
Winckel  Street,  may  have  had  no  existence  in  fact,  but  they  can 
stand  as  types  of  those  living,  laboring  folk,  the  people,  whose 
daily  duties,  activities,  cares  and  needs,  are  a  part  at  once  of 
the  story  and  the  success  of  the  great  State  of  New  York. 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

THE    INFANT  COLONY .         II 

I 609-I 657. 

CHAPTER    II. 

DUTCH   NEW  YORK 33 

I 624-I 664. 

CHAPTER   III. 

THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   ENGLISH    RULE     .......         53 

1664-169I. 

CHAPTER   IV. 

UNDER  THE  ROYAL  GOVERNORS 77 

1664-I765. 

CHAPTER   V. 

A    COLONIAL    BARON  ..........       IOI 

I738-I774. 

CHAPTER   VI. 

LIBERTY .  .  .  .II9 

I775-l800. 

CHAPTER   VII. 

EARLY    POLITICAL    STRUGGLES I45 

1 80O-l820. 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

IN    THE    TWENTIES 1 68 

1 8  20- 1 830. 
CHAPTER   IX. 

PROGRESS    AND   DISASTER 192 

1825-1837. 


TABLE    OF  COXTENTS. 


CHAPTER   X. 


A   GROWING    STATE 219 

1837-1850. 

CHAPTER    XI. 

ERRATIC   DAYS 244 

1 8  50- 1 860. 
CHAPTER   XII. 

IN   WAR  AND  PEACE 262 

1860-1888. 


THE  CHRONOLOGICAL  STORY 283 


THE   PEOPLE'S  COVENANT        ........  .      303 


BOOKS   RELATING  TO   NEW  YORK 307 


INDEX 309 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Page 
Robert  Benson  reading  the  Constitution  April  20,  1777      .         .        Frontis. 

The  first  sight  of  land.     Initial 11 

The  Half  Moon 13 

A  party  of  Walloons  coming  to  the  settlement  at  Albany  .         .  27 

The  windmill  near  the  Fort.     Initial  ......  33 

De  Perel  Straat .         .  35 

Approaching  New  Amsterdam  in  1656 43 

"  I  would  rather  be  carried  out  dead  !  "  said  Stuyvesant     ...  51 

James,  Duke  of  York     Initial    ........  53 

The  first  New  York  Exchange   .  61 

Anthony  at  the  house  of  Teunis 69 

On  Kidd's  ship.     Initial yy 

Going  to  school  in  17CO 79 

On  the  frontier 89 

An  Iroquois  type.     Initial 101 

Isaac  Jansen  goes  to  the  Indian  country 107 

A  council  at  Johnson  Hall 115 

One  of  the  Continentals.     Initial       .         .         .         .         .         .         .  119 

The  Battle  of  Oriskany 123 

Van  Arsdale  at  the  flag  staff 131 

In  181 2.     Initial 145 

On  the  fortifications  in  181 2 149 

"  Take  that  thing  out  of  your  hat,  sir !  " 159 

Governor  De  Witt  Clinton.     Initial 168 

Reading  the  "  Culprit  Fay"       .  173 

The  mingling  of  the  waters 183 

On  the  canal.     Initial 192 

"  People  were  all  either  masons  or  anti-masons!  "  201 

After  the  fire  of '35 211 

Work  after  disaster.     Initial 219 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Anti-renters  stopping  a  sheriff   . 

A  New  York  dandy  of  '49  ... 

"  Brownstone  frontage."     Initial 

Rescue  of  a  fugitive  slave  .... 

"  Every  bank  in  the  city  suspended  payment  " 

A  boy  of  '61.     Initial         .... 

One  of  the  first  to  enlist      .... 

"  The  business  is  yours ;  let's  go  to  work  !  " 


223 

235 
244 
249 

255 
262 
267 
275 


THE  STORY  OF  NEW  YORK 


CHAPTER    I. 


THE    INFANT    COLONY. 


EHOLD!  The  land, 
my  son  !  "  And  good 
Captain  Jan  Evert- 
sen  van  Gloockens, 
of  the  Dutch  galiot 
Gilded  Beaver,  laid  a 
broad  hand  upon  the 
shoulder  of  the  lad 
who,  leaning  far  over  the  high 
taffrail,  was  peering  through  the  scattering  haze 
of  a  September  morning  in  the  year  1657,  toward 
the  long,  low  coast-line  just  coming  into  sight. 

What  the  lad  saw,  over  the  quarter,  was  a  distant 
rim  of  shore,  looking  very  flat  and  level  as  it  lay 
low  down  in  the  western  horizon ;  ahead,  to  the 
southwest,  a  misty  mass  that  might  be  hills  or  might 
be  cloud-banks  was  just  dimly  coming  into  view, 


12   >  THE    JXFAXT  COLONY. 

while,  between,  an  open    stretch  of   water  flashed 
and  sparkled  under  the  September  sun. 

"  Nassauw  Island,  from  Secktaw-hackey  'round  to 
Rechqua-aike  and  Conitjen,"  said  the  skipper,  in 
eluding  the  low  coast-line  in  a  comprehensive  sweep 
of  the  hand;  "the  Staten  hills  and  Scheyichbi,"  he 
continued,  in  guide-book  style,  pointing  to  the 
cloud-bank  in  the  south ;  "  the  Hoofden  and  the 
gateway  to  the  Monados,"  he  said,  indicating 
the  broad  sweep  of  sparkling  water;  "  and  by  that 
gateway,  my  son,"  he  concluded,  "shall  we  and  the 
Gilded  Beaver  sail  upward  to  your  long-wished-for 
haven  of  Nieuw  Amsterdam." 

Translated  into  *bur  modern  geographical  terms 
the  good  captains  talk,  part  Indian,  part  Dutch,  in 
its  names  of  places,  would  mean  to  us :  "  Long 
Island  shore  from  Fire  Island  Inlet  around  to 
Rockaway  and  Coney  Island ;  the  Navesink  hills, 
Staten  Island,  and  the  New  Jersey  shore;  the  Nar- 
rows and  the  gateway  to  Manhattan  Island ;  and 
by  that  gateway  shall  we  sail  upward  to  your  long- 
wished-for  haven  of  New  York." 

For  so  have  names  changed  in  two  hundred  years, 
although  the  low  shore-line  and  the  misty  hills  still 
appear  the  same,  and  are  the  first  landmarks  that 
greet  the  visitor  from  across  the  seas  to-day,  as  he 
stands  watchful  and  curious  upon  the  deck  of  some 
great  ocean  steamer,  even  as  they  greeted  young 


THE   INFANT  COLONY. 


13 


Teunis  Jansen,  from  Amersfoort,  as  he  stood, 
watchful  and  curious,  on  the  unsteady  deck  of  the 
Gilded  Beaver  two  hundred  and  thirty  years  ago. 

A  sturdy,  manly-appearing  young  fellow  was  this 
same  Teunis  Jansen  —  a  frank-faced,  hopeful-look- 


THE    HALF    MOON. 


ing  lad  of  scarce  nineteen  —  fair  type  of  that  rest- 
less young  life  of  Europe  that,  for  now  nearly 
three  centuries,  has  been  coming,  coming,  in  an 
almost  ceaseless  flow,  to  the  shores  of  the  New 
World,  as  to  a  land  of  promise,  of  endeavor,  and 
success. 

Nearly  fifty  years  before,  on  a  September  day  in 


14.  THE   INFANT  COLONY. 

the  year  1609,  an  earlier  Teunis  Jansen  —  this  lad's 
grandfather  —  had  sailed  this  very  course  as  one  of 
the  mixed  crew  of  Dutch  and  English  sailors  who, 
under  the  command  of  Captain  Henry  Hudson, 
the  English  navigator,  had  seen  from  the  deck  of 
another  Dutch  galiot  —  the  Half  Moon  —  the  same 
low-lying  shore-line,  the  same  misty  hills,  the  same 
gleaming  gateway  to  a  new  world. 

Fifty  years  had  passed  since  Captain  Henry 
Hudson,  sailing  up  the  beautiful  river,  had  found 
himself  in  a  land  which  he  reported  to  be  "  the 
finest  kind  for  tillage  and  as  beautiful  as  the  foot 
of  man  ever  trod  upon " ;  and,  within  that  time, 
many  changes  and  a  constantly  increasing  tide  of 
emigration  had  come  to  the  new  lands  of  which 
Captain  Hudson  had  taken  possession  in  the  name 
of  the  States  General  of  Holland  and  the  Dutch 
East  India  Company. 

Originally  discovered  by  the  Spaniards  of  Chris- 
topher Columbus'  day  (as  recent  investigation 
clearly  indicates),  the  land  had  been  neglected  and 
forgotten  by  its  first  discoverers,  these  same  wealth- 
devouring  Spaniards,  who,  seeking  gold  and  spices, 
cared  only  to  follow  the  advice  of  the  geographer 
of  their  king — Peter  Martyr  the  Italian  :  "  To  the 
South,  to  the  South,  for  the  great  and  exceeding 
riches  of  the  Equinoctial ;  they  that  seek  gold  must 
not  go  to  the  cold  and  frozen  North." 


THE   INFANT  COLONY.  1 5 

But,  though  this  northern  land  might  be  ignored 
and  forgotten  by  its  earlier  discoverers,  the  evi- 
dence of  Spanish  exploration  and  possible  occupa- 
tion exists  to-day  in  several  actual  and  peculiar 
relics.  One  of  the  most  striking  of  these  is  the 
simple  headstone  not  long  since  unearthed  near  the 
town  of  Pompey,  in  Onondaga  County,  Central 
New  York.  For  on  this  stone  has  been  deciph- 
ered, after  much  patient  study,  this  nearly  oblit- 
erated inscription  in  abbreviated  old  Spanish  :  "  In 
the  year  of  our  Lord,  1520,  in  the  sixth  month,  died 
here  in  the  hope  of  immortality,  our  comrade  Leo, 
of  the  city  of  Leon,  in  Spain." 

And,  even  more  enduring  than  this  crumbling 
headstone,  the  very  language  of  those  barbaric 
owners  of  the  soil,  who  learned  to  know  and  hate 
the  Spanish  power,  in  the  North  as  in  the  South, 
retained  for  centuries  the  stamp  of  Spanish  contact. 
Many  a  place  and  tribe  through  Lower  New  York, 
accepted  as  Indian  names  by  the  first  colonists, 
have  been  found  by  scholars  to  be  based  upon 
Spanish  words.  Indeed,  even  the  metropolis  of 
the  Western  World  itself  to-day  retains  in  the  name 
of  the  island  upon  which  it  is  built  —  a  name  that 
it  has  proudly  used  for  fully  three  hundred  years  — 
the  evidence  and  the  moral  of  the  greatest  evil 
which,  from  the  very  earliest  days,  the  white  man 
laid  upon  the   red  ;    for  it  was    called    Manhattan, 


1 6  THE  INFANT  COLONY. 

Manhates,  Monatoes,  Mofiados.*  And  monadoes  is 
a  Spanish  word  signifying  "  the  peace  of  drunken 
men." 

But,  for  all  practical  purposes,  the  Teunis  Jansen 
of  1609,  and  his  captain  and  companions  on  the 
Half  Moon,  first  opened  to  European  knowledge 
and  commerce  the  river  which  they  called  Mauri- 
tius, the  French,  Rio  de  Montaigne,  but  which  for 
many  a  year  has  borne  the  name  of  its  dauntless 
explorer,  Hudson  the  navigator.  It  was  then,  too, 
that,  by  the  favorable  report  of  the  country  borne 
back  to  Holland,  was  laid  the  foundations  for  the 
great  and  marvelous  future  of  the  Empire  State  of 
New  York. 

But  young  Teunis  Jansen  as  he  leaned  over  the 
taffrail  of  the  Gilded  Beaver  thought  little  of  this 
possible  future.  He  was  thinking  of  the  past,  and 
was  recalling  all  that  his  grandfather  had  told  him, 
as  the  old  man  would  sit,  smoking  his  big  pipe 
crammed  with  Indian  leaf,  in  the  ingle-nook  of  the 
quaint  little  house  at  Amersfoort  near  the  shores 
of  the  Zuyder  Zee.  For  many,  a  time,  had  the  old 
man  told  the  lad  the  story  of  those  early  days  :  how 
he  had  come  again  and  a^ain  to  the  Manhattans 
after  Captain  Hudson's  discovery;  how  he  had 
trafficked  with    the    Indians  for  furs   and  "pelts" 

*As  MofiadoSj  the  name  of  Manhattan  Island  appears  on  the  earliest  maps  of  American 


THE   INFANT  COLONY.  17 

and  made  merry  in  the  log  warehouse  on  the 
island ;  how  Captain  Adriaen  Block's  vessel  the 
Tiger  had  burned  to  the  water's  edge  just  off 
the  Copake  rocks;*  how,  through  the  long  winter 
of  161 3  the  shipwrecked  sailors  had  lived  in  the 
four  small  houses,!  half  cabins,  half  wigwams,  they 
had  raised  for  shelter,  and  how,  during  their  winter's 
exile,  they  had  built  a  clumsy  craft,  the  Unrest,  on 
which  they  sailed  away  in  the  spring. 

And  Teunis  remembered,  as  well,  all  his  father's 
stories.  For  his  father,  too,  had  been  sailor  and 
fur-trader  in  the  New  Netherlands.  The  lad  had 
heard,  many  a  time,  of  his  father's  rough  and  roving 
life  on  sea  and  shore  ;  of  the  trading  stations  of  the 
great  West  India  Company  at  Manhattan  and 
Esopus  and  Fort  Orange,  away  up  the  broad  river  ; 
at  the  Fresh  River  %  and  on  the  South  River,  §  a 
hundred  miles  southward  from  the  Manhattans. 
He  remembered  his  father's  story  how  in  the  year 
1632  Zwanendael  on  the  South  River  had  fallen 
before  the  assault  of  the  savage  red-man  and  he  re- 
called, alas,  all  too  well,  how  news  at  last  had  come 
to  Amersfoort  that  his  own  father,  volunteering  for 
the  Heer  Governor  Kieft's  bloody  and  unwarranted 
assault   on    the    Indians   at    Pavonia   in    1643,   had 

*Where  Castle  Garden  now  stands. 

tAbout  on  the  spot  which  is  now  No.  39  Broadway. 

$Near  Hartford,  on  the  Connecticut. 

§The  Delaware  River,  a  few  miles  south  of  Philadelphia. 


1 8  THE   INFANT  COLO XV. 

himself  been  killed  soon  after  by  the  enraged 
savages  as  he  was  bringing  a  boat-load  of  furs 
from   Fort  Orange  down  to  the   Manhattans. 

All  these  stories  had  long  stirred  the  lad's  am- 
bition and  made  it  his  greatest  desire  to  follow  in 
the  footsteps  of  his  father  and  his  grandfather,  and 
come  over  to  the  New  Netherlands  to  traffic  and 
settle,  and,  perhaps,  to  make  his  fortune  in  trade. 

For,  after  all,  this  was  the  basis  upon  which  the 
State  of  New  York  was  founded  —  the  eagerness 
for  profitable  trading. 

The  desire  for  gain  has  always  ruled  mankind. 
It  has  peopled  wildernesses,  founded  States,  and 
produced  nations.  Patriotism,  indeed,  is  largely 
business  glorified  into  a  principle.  Even  more  than 
the  yearnings  for  religious  freedom,  an  ambition  for 
profitable  trade  was  the  impelling  cause  that  has 
resulted  in  the  America  of  to-day. 

It  was  this  that  sent  Hudson  over  the  sea ;  it  was 
this  that  led  Champlain  into  the  wildernesses  of  the 
Adirondacks  and  brought  these  two  men  almost 
face  to  face,  as,  all  unconsciously,  on  the  same  Sep- 
tember days,  they  were  pushing,  the  one  to  the 
South  and  the  other  to  the  North,  in  search  of  an 
impossible  passage  to  a  still  more  impossible  Cathay. 
It  was  this,  too,  that  sent  factor  and  fur-trader  into 
hitherto  untrodden  paths  in  advance  alike  of  soldier 
:\nd  of  priest,  of  conversion  and  of  conquest. 


THE   INFANT  COLONY.  1 9 

"  The  soldier,"  says  Mr.  Parkman,  "  might  be  a 
roving  knight,  the  priest  a  martyr  and  a  saint ;  but 
both  alike  were  subserving  the  interests  of  that 
commerce  which  formed  the  only  solid  basis  of  the 
colony.1' 

When,  in  the  year  1493,  the  Pope  Alexander  the 
Sixth,  with  a  generosity  that  was  as  cheap  as  it  was 
colossal,  gave  all  America  to  Spain,  the  seeds  of 
dissension  in  New  World  colonization  were  planted. 
Neither  papal  bull  nor  Spanish  swords  could  keep 
the  trader  and  the  gain-desiring  settler  from  their 
coveted  trading-ground,  and  the  grant  by  which 
France,  basing  her  title  on  the  questionable  dis- 
coveries of  Verazzano,  claimed  all  North  America 
from  the  Atlantic  to  New  Mexico,  and  from  the 
Gulf  to  the  Arctic  Circle,  was  as  valid,  or  rather, 
as  worthless,  as  was  the  unfounded  claim  of  Spain 
or  the  equally  questionable  ones  of  England  and 
of  Holland. 

It  was  these  conflicting  claims  to  the  property  of 
those  other  and  earlier  possessors — the  red  Indians 
of  America  —  that  led  to  interminable  discussions 
and  demands  between  the  new  settlers  and  their 
home  governments;  and  these  discussions  seem  to 
have  raged  more  hotly  in  the  New  York  colony 
than  anywhere  else. 

The  people  of  Northern  Europe,  as  they  increased 
in  wealth,  developed  a  taste  for  luxuries.     And  not 


20  THE  INFANT  COLONY. 

the  least  of  these  luxuries  was  the  fashion  of  wear- 
ins  costly  robes  and  cloaks  made  from  the  skins  of 
bear  and  bison,  beaver  and  fox.  The  discovery 
of  these  fur-bearing  animals  in  large  numbers  in 
the  newly  found  land  to  the  west*  created  a  demand 
that  others  were  quick  to  supply.  It  was  seized 
upon  by  hundreds  of  enterprising  men  as  an  oppor- 
tunity for  profit,  and  thus  at  once  was  established 
what  Mr.  Parkman  denominates  "the  hardy,  adven- 
turous, lawless,  fascinating  fur  trade."  The  trading 
post  and  the  store-house  were  the  first  signs  of  the 
white  man's  civilization  upon  the  banks  of  the 
Hudson  and  the  shores  of  the  greater  and  lesser 
lakes.  Such  was  the  log  house  built  on  Manhattan 
Island,  very  near  to  the  present  Bowling  Green,  in 
1615;  such,  the  trading-post,  half  fort,  half  store 
house,"  thirty-six  feet  long  by  twenty-six  wide/'  on  an 
island  just  below  the  site  of  the  city  of  Albany  and 
such,  too,  were  the  insecure  bark  lodges  near  Ticon- 
deroga  and  on  the  shore  of  Oneida  Lake  and  the 
equally  temporary  hut  within  sound  of  the  roar  of 
Niagara.  Thus  at  various  points,  widely  separated 
but  held  for  the  same  general  purpose  of  trade  in 
furs,  did  the  hermit  trapper — shrewd,  unscrupulous, 
brave  and  venturesome,  —  open  the  first  chapter  in 
the  story  of  the  Empire  State. 


*ln  the  years  1565-66  over  six  thousand  buffalo  skins  wore  exported  by  French  traders 
who    ecured  them  secretly  from  the  Indian  hunters  of  the  Alleghany  .slope. 


THE   INFANT  COLONY.  21 

And  how  noble  a  domain  for  commerce  and  for 
settlement  did  the  boundaries  of  this  same  Empire 
State  inclose  !  "  The  history  of  a  country,"  says 
Mr.  Bancroft,  "  is,  in  many  of  its  features,  deter- 
mined by  its  geographical  situation.  The  region 
which  Hudson  discovered  possessed  near  the  sea 
an  unrivalled  harbor;  a  river  that  admits  the  tide 
far  into  the  interior ;  on  the  north  the  chain  of 
great  lakes,  which  have  their  springs  in  the  heart  of 
the  continent;  within  its  limits  the  sources  of  rivers 
that  flow  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  St.  Lawrence, 
and  to  the  bays  of  Chesapeake  and  Delaware  ;  of 
which,  long  before  Europeans  anchored  off  Sandy 
Hook,  the  warriors  of  the  Five  Nations  availed 
themselves  in  their  excursions  to  Quebec,  to  the 
Ohio  and  the  Susquehanna.  With  just  sufficient 
difficulties  to  irritate,  and  not  enough  to  dishearten, 
New  York  united  richest  lands  with  the  highest 
adaptation  to  foreign  and  domestic  commerce." 

And  yet  the  early  settlers  of  New  York  in  their 
efforts  to  obtain  a  home  encountered  obstacles  that 
were  calculated  to  both  irritate  and  dishearten. 
Not  in  the  limitations  of  a  stubborn  soil  nor  in  the 
surprises  of  a  barbaric  foe  were  these  encountered. 
Both  these  obstacles  were  courageously  met  and 
successfully  overcome.  The  colonist's  chief  barriers 
to  success  were,  rather,  their  own  selfish  over-lords. 
It  was   in  spite  of  the  niggardly  methods,  the  petty 


\2  THE   INFANT  COLONY. 

jealousies,  and  the  continual  strifes  of  their  own 
patrons  and  protectors  that  the  people  of  New 
York  rose  superior  to  circumstances  and,  triumph- 
ing over  the  tyrannies  of  Companies  and  Patroons, 
of  Dutch  sluggishness  and  of  British  greed,  became 
finally  the  real  founders  and  upbuilders  of  a  great 
and  growing  State. 

The  foundations  of  the  State  were  laid  by  com- 
merce. But  the  builders  of  this  foundation  were 
the  close-fisted  members  of  the  firm  of  Self  and 
Monopoly. 

It  is  well  for  those  who,  at  the  present  day,  so 
inveigh  against  the  great  and  grasping  monopolies 
of  our  time,  to  remember  that  in  this,  as  in  other 
matters,  the  world's  advance  in  righteousness  may 
be  seen.  Not  the  most  soul-less  corporation  of 
this  last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century  is  to 
be  compared  for  selfishness,  arrogance,  short-sight- 
edness, tyranny  and  greed  to  the  companies  that  in 
the  early  days  of  American  colonization  sought 
to  monopolize  and  "corner"  the  possibilities  of  a 
continent. 

And  by  no  means  the  least  culpable  of  these  were 
the  corporate  bodies  which,  under  the  special  per- 
mission of  the  States  .General  of  Holland,  secured 
the  privilege  of  trade  and  settlement  in  the  limits 
of  what  was  then  known  as  the  New  Netherlands. 

This  was  a  vast  section  without  absolute  bounda- 


THE   INFANT  COLONY.  23 

ries  or  prescribed  limits  save  as  such  limits  should  be 
the  indefinite  frontier  lines  of  the  French  occupa- 
tion of  Canada  on  the  north,  and  the  English  col- 
ony of  Virginia  on  the  south.  This  section  was 
claimed  by  the  States  General  of  Holland  "in  right 
of  discovery  "  and  extended  westward  "  as  far  as 
the  Dutch  might  be  supposed  ever  to  explore." 

The  Dutch  East  India  Company  in  whose  service 
Henry  Hudson  was  employed  when  he  discovered 
the  river  that  bears  his  name,  was  a  wealthy  and 
powerful  commercial  corporation  of  Holland.  It 
monopolized  the  trade  of  the  East,  and,  aiming  to 
circumvent  and  get  the  better  of  Holland's  bitterest 
enemy,  Spain,  this  company  expended  vast  sums  in 
the  search  for  a  nearer  and  northerly  passage  to 
the  China  seas.  Thus,  among  other  places,  were 
the  New  Netherlands  discovered  in  September, 
1609.  Hudson's  reports  brought  other  Dutch  ves- 
sels on  purposes  of  private  trade  into  the  "  River  of 
the  Mountains  "  as  the  beautiful  stream  was  called. 
Hongers,  Pelgrom  and  Van  Tweenhuysen,  three 
Amsterdam  merchants,  were  the  earliest  commer- 
cial adventurers  in  this  region,  and  on  January  1st, 
1 61 5,  an  association  of  speculative  Amsterdam  mer- 
chants, under  the  style  of  the  "  New  Netherlands 
Company,"  secured  from  the  government  of  Hol- 
land the  exclusive  right  for  three  years  of  trading 
in    the    region    known    as    the    New    Netherlands. 


24  THE  INFANT  COLONY. 

Individual    speculation   was   forced    to    retire,  and 
thus  was  the  first  monopoly  established. 

The  profits  on  this  three  years'  trading  contract 
were  enormous,  but  upon  its  expiration,  in  1618, 
mercantile  jealousy  interferred  and  a  renewal  was 
refused.  The  Dutch  West  India  Company  was  then 
formed.  It  was  granted  the  exclusive  trade  upon 
the  American  and  Asiatic  coasts  of  the  Atlantic,  and 
was  invested  with  enormous  powers  beyond  those, 
so  it  is  asserted,  ever  granted  to  any  private  corpo- 
ration.    And  thus  was  monopoly  perpetuated. 

For  forty  years  the  Dutch  West  India  Company, 
its  directors  and  servants,  held  autocratic  power 
over  its  possessions  known  as  the  New  Netherlands. 
The  governors  it  sent  out  were  merely  officers  in  a 
commercial  corporation  caring  for  little  except  the 
privileges  and  the  profits  of  their  masters,  the  Com- 
pany, and  caring  still  less  for  the  condition  or  the 
success  of  those  of  the  colonists  who  were  not,  as 
were  they,  servants  of  the  great  monopoly. 

After  a  few  years  of  this  dog-in-the-manger  policy 
of  trade  and  government  the  failing  revenues  of  its 
New  Netherland  possessions,  when  compared  with 
those  of  its  South  American  possessions,  compelled 
the  Company  to  seek  for  new  methods  to  retrieve 
its  losses  Wisdom  should  have  suggested  the 
policy  of  liberal  offers  to  new  settlers,  but  the  aris- 
tocratic notions  that  held  sway  even   in   republican 


THE  INFANT  COLONY.  25 

Holland  could  not  endure  concessions  to  the  peo- 
ple. Instead,  the  Company  sought  to  create  what 
has  been  termed  "  a  monopoly  within  a  monopoly." 
They  disposed  of  great  tracts  of  land,  or  "  manors/' 
to  certain  of  the  Company's  own  officers  or  to 
wealthy  Holland  merchants  who,  under  the  title  of 
patroons  became,  in  reality,  feudal  lords  over  the 
lands  thus  ceded  to  them. 

The  only  redeeming  feature  of  this  additional 
monopoly  was  that  the  patroons  were  forced  to 
acquire  their  lands  from  the  Indians  "by  purchase." 
This  policy,  wisely  proposed,  was  wisely  adhered  to. 
It  remains,  therefore,  to  the  honor  of  the  Dutch 
settlers  of  New  York  that  where  far  too  many  of  the 
colonizers  in  America  acquired  their  lands  from 
the  Indian  owners  through  fraud  or  open  seizure 
they,  from  the  first,  honestly  paid  for  what  they 
openly  purchased. 

But,  under  the  guardianship  of  monopolies  men 
become  either  serfs  or  protestants.  The  State  of 
New  York  grew  because  of  the  increasing  indepen- 
dence of  its  people  and  not  because  of  any  liberality 
on  the  part  of  its  founders  or  of  public  benefits 
from  the  hands  of  its  early  governors.  These,  as 
has  been  said,  were  simply  servants  of  the  monopoly 
they  represented,  earnest  in  its  service  and  loyal  to 
their  own  interests,  but  regarding  the  people  as  vas- 
sals to  be  curbed  or  inflictions  to  be  ignored. 


36  THE   INFANT  COLONY. 

Mey  and  Tienpont,  earliest  of  the  representatives 
of  the  Company,  were  merely  traders  and  factors 
caring  only  for  the  cargoes  they  could  send  to 
Holland.  Minuit  was  a  self-willed  and  self-seeking 
adventurer,  Van  Twill er,  a  drunken  and  indolent 
fool,  Kieft  a  conceited  and  tyrannical  bankrupt, 
Stuyvesant  a  despotic  and  passionate  autocrat. 
And  the  change  from  Dutch  to  English  rule 
brought  little  or  no  relief  so  far  as  the  personal 
characteristics  of  the  governors  were  concerned. 
They  were  favorites  of  the  Duke  or  the  King,  re- 
warded with  colonial  office  for  loyal  personal  ser- 
vice and  could  not  so  lower  their  dignity  as  to 
consult  the  wishes  or  entertain  the  complaints  of 
the  "  people." 

And  these  "people"  —  who  were  they?  Traders, 
first,  and  the  roving  adventurers  who  are  always  in 
the  van  of  any  pioneering  move  ;  then,  a  company 
of  Walloons,  from  the  country  about  the  Scheldt, 
fugitives  from  French  intolerance  and  Spanish 
persecution  ;  next,  ship-loads  of  sturdy  Dutch  emi- 
grants from  their  native  Holland,  seeking  a  foot- 
hold and  possible  prosperity  in  a  new  and  untried 
field;  with  them,  Huguenot  refugees,  already  half 
Hollanders  by  residence  in  that  land  of  religious 
toleration  since  the  fearful  day  of  St.  Bartholomew; 
runaway  or  discharged  sailors  and  soldiers;  fugi- 
tives   from    stern    home    justice  —  scatterings    from 


THE   INFANT  COLONY.  29 

every  nation  of  Europe ;  for,  from  the  very  first, 
the  colony  of  New  Netherland  held  that  mixture 
of  folk  and  of  nationalities  that  has  always  made 
New  York  City  the  most  cosmopolitan  town  in  all 
America,  and  given  to  the  State  the  same  mingled 
composition.  They  came  in  every  ship  that  plied 
between  the  Old  Amsterdam  and  the  New  —  in  the 
Gilded  Otter,  the  Jan  Baptiste,  the  Brownfish,  the 
Faith,  the  Spotted  Cow,  the  Arms  of  Amsterdam, 
the  Love  and  all  the  other  queerly-named  craft. 
In  these  came  Jan  Barentsen,  the  house  carpenter, 
Cornelis  Andriessen  Hoogland,  the  tailor,  Pieter 
van  Halen  from  Utrecht,  with  his  wife  and  two 
children,  Geertruy  Jochems,  wife  of  Claes  Claessen 
from  Amersfoort,  and  her  two  children ;  Adriaen 
Fournoi  from  Valenciennes,  Harmen  Dircksen  from 
Norway,  wife  and  child;  Claes  Wolf,  from  the  Elbe, 
sailor,  Epke  Jacobs  from  Harlingen,  farmer,  wife 
and  five  sons,  Femmetje  Hendricksen,  maiden ; 
Christiaen  de  Lorie  from  St.  Malo,  Steven  Koorts 
from  Drenthe,  wife  and  seven  children,  Annetje 
Gillis  van  Beest,  servant  girl  —  bakers  and  tailors, 
farmers  and  fishermen,  masons  and  shoemakers, 
wheelwrights  and  coopers,  laborers,  workmen,  clerks 
and  servants,  maid  and  matron,  widow  and  child 
and  even  one  pair  on  their  honeymoon  —  "  Dorige- 
man  Jansen,  from  Dordrecht  and  his  bride."  These 
are  but  a  few  names  selected  from  the  old  passenger 


30  THE   INFANT  COLONY. 

lists  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  —  samples, 
all,  of  the  people  who,  spite  of  ocean  terrors  and 
savage  fears,  faced  all  the  deprivations  of  life  in 
an  untried  land.  In  this  however  they  and  their 
companions  were  to  make  for  themselves  a  home 
and  build  their  hopes  and  their  endeavors  into  the 
great  State  of  which,  even  more  than  the  autocratic 
West  India  Company,  the  people  themselves  laid 
the  firm  foundation. 

But  these  all  came  slowly.  It  was  not  until 
1624,  fifteen  years  after  Hudson's  voyage,  that  the 
first  real  colonists  came.  Up  to  that  date  the  New 
Netherlands  had  been  used  simply  as  a  barter- 
ground  for  the  fur-traders. 

These  colonists  of  1624  were  Belgian  Protes 
tants,  known  as  Walloons.  Thirty  families  of  these 
thrifty  folk  came  over  in  the  ship  New  Nethcrland, 
under  charge  of  Captain  Cornelis  Jacobsen  Mey, 
afterward  first  Director-General  of  the  colony. 
Eight  men  were  landed  at  Manhattan;  four  couples 
were  sent  to  the  South  River;  two  families  and  six 
men  to  the  Connecticut  River  region,  and  the  rest 
were  carried  north  to  the  Fort  Orange,  or  Albany 
settlement.  This,  as  has  been  said,  was  the  first 
real  colonization  of   New  Netherland. 

That  same  year,  1624,  other  vessels  came  from 
Holland  and,  in  the  year  following,  the  Dutch 
West   India  Company,  rejoicing  in  a  profit  on  their 


THE   INFAN2"  COLONY.  3  I 

first  year's  business  of  nearly  twenty-eight  thousand 
guilders,  determined  to  enlarge  the  settlement  that 
was  slowly  growing  around  their  chief  warehouse 
on  Manhattan  Island.  They  accordingly  offered 
certain  special  so-called  "  inducements  "  to  emi- 
grants, and  before  the  close  of  the  year  four 
vessels  brought  settlers  to  the  new  colony  —  "forty- 
five  persons  in  all  with  household  furniture,  farm- 
ing utensils,  and  one  hundred  and  three  head  of 
cattle." 

By  June,  1626,  the  population  of  the  Manhattan 
settlement  (which  did  not  receive  the  name  of  New 
Amsterdam  until  1633)  had  grown  to  two  hundred 
persons.  There  were  some  thirty  dwellings  grouped 
about  the  "block  house  with  red  cedar  palisades"  — 
called  by  courtesy  "  the  fort" — which  stood  near 
the  water's  edge.  That  same  year  of  1626,  the  first 
stone  building  was  erected.  This  was  the  Com- 
pany's warehouse. 

In  1628  the  island  had  outstripped  the  other  set- 
tlements in  the  province  and  boasted  a  population 
of  two  hundred  and  seventy  persons,  and  the  colo- 
nists began  to  build  houses  of  brick  and  stone.  In 
1630  the  monopoly  of  the  "  patroon  "  system  was 
authorized  by  the  Company,  and  these  owners  of 
new  tracts  began  to  send  over  colonists  to  occupy 
their  lands. 

So,  year  by  year,  was  New  Netherland  gradually 


32  THE   INEANT  COLONY, 

peopled,  until  in  1650,  just  forty  years  after  Hud- 
son's voyage,  the  province  in  its  scattered  trading 
settlements  at  Manhattan  Island,  Fort  Orange,  now 
Albany,  the  Fresh  River,  now  Hartford  in  Connec- 
ticut, Pavonia,  now  Jersey  City,  Zwanendael  on  the 
South,  or  Delaware  River,  not  far  from  the  pres- 
ent site  of  Philadelphia,  and  Breuckelen,  on  Long 
Island,  showed  a  census  of  nearly  three  thousand 
colonists.  During  the  time  of  Stuyvesant,  the  last 
of  the  Dutch  directors,  or  governors,  these  figures 
grew  to  a  total  of  eight  thousand  persons  within 
the  confines  of  the  New  Netherlands,  of  whom 
over  one  thousand  were  resident  on  the  island  of 
Manhattan. 

And  it  was  to  these  eight  thousand  colonists 
that  young  Teunis  Jansen,  whom  we  left  gazing 
over  the  rail  of  the  Gilded  Beaver,  was  to  join  him- 
self. For  he  was  sailing  up  the  Lower  Bay  toward 
the  clustering  houses  of  New  Amsterdam  in  the 
beautiful  month  of  September,  1657,  the  tenth  year 
in  the  administration  of  the  Heer  Petrus  Stuyve- 
sant, Director-General  of  New  Netherland  for  their 
High  Mightinesses  the  States-General  of  Holland 
and  the  Honorable  Lords  Directors  of  the  Dutch 
West  India  Company. 


CHAPTER    II. 


DUTCH    NEW    YORK. 


T  was  a  quaint  and,  in 
many  ways,  a  perplex- 
ing town  i  n  which 
Teunis  Jansen  found 
/s  himself  when,  late 
J^ f  t  h  a  t  afternoon,  he 
stepped  upon  the 
long  dock  at  Pearl 
Street.  The  Gilded 
Beaver  lay  at  her 
moorings  i  n  m  i  d- 
stream,  in  the  East 
River,  just  off  the  Long  Dock.  Teunis  Jansen 
and  the  other  passengers  had  come  ashore  in  the 
Beavers  row  boat  and,  upon  the  deck  of  the  galiot, 
the  good  Captain  Jan  Evertsen  van  Gloockens 
was  superintending  the  discharge  of  his  cargo, 
which  certain  clumsy,  flat-bottomed  scows  were 
taking  ashore  for  delivery  to  the  haven-master  and 
the  consignees. 

The  town  was  neither  a  large  nor  a  regular  one, 

33 


34  DUTCH  NEW  YORK. 

and  the  most  noticeable  objects  that  the  lad  had 
seen  as  he  sailed  up  the  bay  were  the  sloping  roof 
and  rather  squat  spire  of  the  Gereformeede  Kerck, 
or  Reformed  Church,  the  towering  flag-staff  and 
bastions  of  Fort  Amsterdam,  and  the  whirling  sails 
of  the  big  windmill  close  beside  it. 

And  there  on  the  Long  Dock  ready  to  meet  and 
greet  him  stood  Anthony  Yerrenton,  his  father's 
former  comrade  and  crony  in  the  fur-trading  days 
—  one  of  those  cosmopolitan  fellows,  as  much 
Dutch  as  English,  and  as  much  French  and  Indian 
as  both,  whom  the  American  fur-trade,  more  than 
any  other  calling,  specially  produced. 

But  now  gray  and  grizzled  by  advancing  years  and 
long  exposure,  and  with  profits  from  fur-traffic  suffi- 
ciently satisfactory  to  enable  him  to  give  up  roughing 
it  in  the  Northern  wilderness  and  become  a  factor 
and  dealer  himself,  the  Heer  Anthony  Yerrenton 
had  become  a  staid  and  prosperous  burgher  of  New 
Amsterdam,  highly  regarded  by  his  associates  and 
even  spoken  of  as  one  of  the  possible  Schcpens  of 
the  town  at  the  next  regular  appointing-time.  He 
was  the  head  of  a  family  of  boys  with  wide-flapping 
breeches,  and  girls  with  tightly-twisted  braids,  for 
the  goode  vrouw  Yerrenton,  his  wife,  was  a  Dutch 
matron  of  the  amplest  type,  an  over-particular 
housewife  and  a  highly  satisfactory  "  provider." 

But   the  siuht   of    the   son    of    his    old    comrade 


DUTCH  NEW  YORK. 


35 


brought  back  to  his  mind  thronging  memories  of 
the  old  days  of  traffic  and  adventure  among  the  red 
Indians  and  the  French  coureurs  de  dot's  ;  and,  with 
the  grasp  of  a  vise  and  a  hand-shake  like  a  whirl- 
wind the  Heer  Anthony  Yerrenton  swooped  down 


A&1       J  HP HffiP  I    r:y-  m      - 


DE    I'KREL    STRAAT. 


upon  young  Teunis  Jansen  and  dragged  him  away 
to  his  odd  and  ugly-looking  little  house  on  De 
Brugh  Straat,  or  Bridge  Street. 

First  impressions  of  any  new  place  are  not  al- 
ways lasting  ones.  Impressions  hold  only  as  they 
become  more  deeply  rooted.  But  to  the  day  of 
his  death  Teunis  Jansen  never  forgot  his  peculiar 


36  DUTCH  NEW  YORK. 

sensations  as  he  strolled  along  De  Perel  Straat 
(Pearl  Street)  —  the  pleasant  roadway  that  skirted 
the  Hashing  river.  Here  he  was  at  last,  in  a  new 
land — a  land  which  his  grandfather  had  helped 
discover,  his  father  to  develop,  and  to  which  now 
he,  with  all  his  young  life  of  endeavor  and  deter- 
mination before  him,  had  come,  to  find  and  found 
a  home  and  "  grow  up  with  the  country." 

The  arrival  of  a  ship  from  the  mother-country 
was  sufficiently  rare  to  be  esteemed  a  sensation,  but 
the  Dutch  were  a  people  to  take  sensations  seri- 
ously and  with  all  their  interest  in  the  Gilded 
Beaver,  its  passengers  and  its  cargo,  the  group  of 
watchers  and  welcomers  that  thronged  the  Long 
Dock  made  but  little  show  of  excitement.  Friends 
greeted  friends  with  the  kiss  of  welcome  that  passed 
between  men  as  well  as  women ;  the  numerous 
wine-shops  near  by  found  a  sudden  increase  of  pat- 
ronage, but  in  all  this  there  was  little  of  the  volu- 
bility exhibited  by  Anthony  Yerrenton. 

The  old  fur-trader,  usually  cool  and  sedate, 
had  been  aroused  to  enthusiasm  by  the  sight  of 
this  lad  from  across  the  sea  and  he  waxed  elo- 
quent over  the  beauties  of  the  little  town  he  loved 
so  much. 

As  they  passed  along  he  proudly  pointed  out  for 
Teunis  the  signs  of  growth  and  increasing  pros- 
perity about  the  little  city. 


DUTCH  NEW  YORK.  37 

"  Why,  lad,"  he  said,  "  when  your  father  and  I 
used  to  come  down  here  in  our  boats  with  our  loads 
of  furs  from  'Sopus  and  Fort  Orange,  say  twenty 
years  ago  —  in  Governor  Van  Twiller's  time  — 
there  was  ne'er  a  street  in  the  whole  town.  The 
houses  lay  in  clusters  like,  and  snug  up  to  the  walls 
of  the  fort.  De  Perel  Straat  —  this  one  we  are  on 
—  was  only  a  wagon-way  along  the  river  side. 
Look  at  it  now!  Forty-three  houses,  not  counting 
the  wine  shops  —  and  far  too  many  of  them,  say  I, 
All  good  houses,  too  —  the  best  in  town  almost. 
Well,  we  have  Governor  Kieft  to  thank  for  starting 
this  street,  and  there's  little  else  we  can  thank  him 
for  —  a  greedy,  violent  and  mischievous  man,  lad, 
whose  folly  caused  your  poor  father's  death ;  he 
came  near  wrecking  the  colony  too,  and,  faith,  he 
would  have  done  it  if  the  Company  had  not  listened 
for  once  to  the  appeals  of  the  people.  But  see 
what  we've  done  in  spite  of  it  all.  Here  are  now 
some  seventeen  streets  all  told  —  Te  Marckvelt,  De 
Heere  Straat,  De  Waal,  Te  Water,  De  Perel  Straat, 
Aghter  De  Perel  Straat,  De  Brouwer  Straat,  De 
Winckel  Straat,  De  Bever  Graft,  Te  Marckvelt 
Steegie,  De  Smee  Straat,  De  Smits  V'ly  De  Hoogh 
Straat,  De  Heere  Graft,  De  Prince  Graft,  De 
Prince  Straat,  and  De  Brugh  Straat,  where  I  live. 
And  look  you,  now ;  I  bought  my  place  on  De 
Brugh   Straat,  scarce   a   dozen    years    back   (barely 


$S  DUTCH  NEW  YORK. 

five  morgens  and  a  half*  in  size  is  it),  for  just 
twenty-four  guilders  t  and  only  yesterday  Hendrick 
Kip  offered  me  an  hundred  and  twenty-five  guild- 
ers for  the  lot  alone  !  There's+a  profit  for  you, 
lad.  But  he  don't  get  it.  Why,  we'll  have  De 
Brugh  Straat  paved  within  the  year  and  my  values 
will  run  even  higher.  O,  yes  ;  we  have  commenced 
the  paving.  There's  De  Hoogh  Straat  yonder. 
Paved  last  year  as  finely  and  as  fairly  as  any  street 
in  old  Amsterdam.  And  if  all  goes  well  with  us 
here,  you  shall  see  !  We  will  have  all  the  streets 
most  in  use  paved  just  as  stoutly  ere  two  years  have 
gone." 

The  pavement  upon  which  good  Heer  Yerrenton 
was  discoursing  so  eloquently,  as  he  rattled  off  the 
queer  Dutch  names  of  the  streets  of  old  New 
York,  would  seem  poor  enough  in  these  days  of 
patent  methods  and  of  Belgian  blocks.  It  was 
simply  native  cobble-stones  with  a  gutter  laid  in  the 
middle  of  the  roadway  and  with  no  sidewalk  what- 
ever. But  it  was  as  grand  as  asphalt  or  granite  in 
the  eyes  of  Anthony  Yerrenton. 

And,  notwithstanding  all  its  drawbacks,  the  city 
had  made  excellent  progress  for  its  years.  First  re- 
garded by  the  Dutch  West  India  Company  as  only 
a  convenient  storage  station  for  furs  and  peltries  it 

*Thc  lot  was  jo  fret  fronl  by  M"  feet  deep. 

.  60  equal  t<>  about  £50  to-day. 


DUTCH  NEW  YORK.  39 

had,  since  the  year  1626,  when  the  Heer  Director 
Kieft  bought  the  island  from  the  Indians  for  twenty- 
four  dollars  ( sixty  guilders  )  grown  into  quite  a 
prosperous  town  despite  the  blunderings  and  the 
despotisms  of  its  proprietors  and  its  rulers. 

And  as  with  the  city  so  also  with  the  colony.  It 
prospered  or  languished  according  as  trade  fluctu- 
ated or  the  stupidity  of  rulers  affected  it.  But 
neither  depression  in  trade  nor  inefficiency  of  gov- 
ernors could  retard  the  growth  of  a  colony  whose 
people  were  beginning  to  think  for  themselves, 
and  were  growing  even  more  hardy,  self-reliant 
and  progressively  assertive. 

From  the  first,  the  attitude  of  the  people  of  New 
York  had  been  one  of  assertion.  Though  the  Dutch 
have  ever  made  a  boast  of  their  spirit  of  liberty  and 
toleration  the  story  of  their  colonies  shows  their 
colonial  rulers  to  have  ever  been  lagging  in  the 
wake  of  the  people's  desires  rather  than  leading 
the  van.  Every  Dutch  governor  from  Minuit  to 
Stuyvesant,  when  he  was  not  serving,  first,  his 
own  interests  and  then  those  of  his  masters  the 
Directors  of  the  Dutch  West  India  Company  was 
engaged  in  the  attempt  to  smother  the  aspirations 
of  the  people. 

The  spirit  of  liberty  and  human  progress  cannot 
be  smothered.  There  is  a  sense  of  independence 
created    by   the    severance    of    home-ties    and    the 


40  DCTCH  NEW  YORK. 

absence  of  home-restraints  that  appears  in  the  emi- 
grant from  across  the  seas,  even  as  it  does  in  the 
adventurous  Yankee  lad  "  seeking  his  own  for- 
tune." It  is  one  of  the  secrets  of  the  American 
character,  and  though  sometimes  it  shows  unpleas- 
antly in  the  adopted  citizen  it  is  one  which,  intelli- 
gently fostered,  will  lead  to  a  grand  national  future. 
Personal  prosperity  is  always  the  death  of  socialism. 
The  colonists  of  the  New  Netherlands,  upon  the 
Hollander's  native  basis  of  opposition  to  tyranny 
(by  which,  according  to  Mr.  Carlyle,  they  succeeded 
in  "breaking  the  vertebral  column"  of  Spain  for- 
ever), engrafted  the  stronger  love  of  liberty  that 
the  free  air  of  a  vast  New  World  unconsciously  gave 
to  them.  However  much  it  may  be  asserted  that 
the  theory  of  resistance  to  tyrants  was  of  New  Eng- 
land origin,  it  is  certain  that,  more  than  any  other 
American  colony,  the  province  of  New  York  made 
the  first  protest  against  the  encroachments  of  aris- 
tocracy and  monopoly.  Further  than  this,  it  may 
be  said,  as  Mr.  Berthold  Fernow  has  recently  ex- 
pressed it,  that  "the  great  Indian  problem,  which 
has  been  and  still  is  a  question  of  paramount  im- 
portance to  the  United  States  Government,  was 
solved  by  the  Dutch  of  New  Netherland  without 
great  difficulty.  .  .  .  The  historians  who  charge 
the  Dutch  with  pusillanimity  and  cowardice  in  their 
dealings  with  the  Indians  forget  that  to  their  policy 


DUTCH  NEW  YORK.  41 

we  owe  to-day  the  existence  of  the  United  States." 
After  all,  truthfulness  in  trade  and  honesty  in 
commerce  may  make  business  principles  principle 
indeed. 

It  was  this  lesson  of  sterling  honesty  and  shrewd 
common  sense  that  young  Teunis  Jansen  learned 
from  the  hospitable  friend  who  bade  him  make  the 
already  crowded  little  house  on  De  Brugh  Straat 
his  home  until  such  time  as  he  should  have  "  lost 
his  sea  legs  "  and  looked  about  him  for  something 
to  do. 

The  little  home  on  De  Brugh  Straat  was  a  type 
of  the  New  Netherland  home.  It  was  a  low  story 
and  a  half  structure,  standing  gable-end  to  the 
street,  with  front  of  wood  and  stone,  and  ends  of 
small,  alternate  black  and  yellow  Dutch  bricks.  Its 
tiled  roof  was  surmounted  with  a  weathercock  and 
the  big  brass  knocker,  shaped  like  a  dog's  head, 
hung  on  the  upper  half  of  the  ample  Dutch  door. 

The  goode  vrouw  Yerrenton  was  scrupulously 
neat,  and,  the  house  within,  was  her  undisputed 
province.  The  floor  was  scrubbed  and  sanded; 
the  wide  fireplace  in  the  kitchen  was  the  general 
rallying-point,  and  the  table  was  plentifully  supplied 
with  the  simple  food  of  the  days  of  simple  tastes. 
Teunis  was  given  a  "  slaap-banck,"  or  sleeping-bench, 
in  one  of  the  dormered  rooms  under  the  eaves  and 
soon  grew  to  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  family  — 


42  DUTCH  NEW  YORK. 

and  by  none  more  so  than  buxom  Grietje,  otherwise 
Margaret  Yerrenton. 

The  young  emigrant  had  come  to  the  New  Neth- 
erlands at  a  critical  period  of  its  history.  Already 
the  Dutch  power  was  on  the  wane.  The  English, 
always  aggressive  colonists  in  whatever  part  of  the 
world  they  have  planted  the  flag  of  Britain,  were 
especially  so  in  North  America.  Basing  their 
claims  to  this  New  Netherland  territory  on  a  title 
not  so  valid  as  the  Dutch  —  if  that  can  be  esteemed 
valid  which  is  based  simply  upon  discovery  and 
occupation  —  the  English  authorities  claimed  owner- 
ship and  dominion  over  all  the  New  Netherland 
limits. 

Not  even  the  defensive  policy  of  a  stern  and 
vigorous  governor,  like  Stuyvesant,  could  make 
headway  against  the  inevitable.  Connecticut  had 
practically  fallen  into  English  hands,  so  too  had 
Westchester,  the  South  River  and  New  Jersey 
patents  were  fast  slipping  from  Dutch  control, 
while  the  greater  part  of  Long  Island  acknowl- 
edged England's  authority. 

The  commercial  spirit  seldom  resorts  to  armed 
resistance.  Communities  absorbed  in  trade  may 
protest,  but  they  rarely  fight.  A  change  of  rulers 
is  preferable  to  business  disturbance.  Colonial  his- 
tory is  full  of  evidence  of  this,  from  the  days  of 
Rome  to  those  of  England. 


DUTCH  NEW  YORK.  45 

Recklessly  neglected  by  the  selfish  monopoly  that 
was  its  master  but  not  its  protector,  and  desirous, 
as  success  seemed  possible,  of  a  more  unfettered 
effort  toward  commercial  progress,  the  New  Neth- 
erland  colony  gradually  lost  whatever  of  fealty  or 
respect  it  had  originally  held  toward  the  home  gov- 
ernment. With  its  people  more  interested  in  their 
profits  from  trade  than  in  an  unsubstantial  and  un- 
remunerative  patriotism  the  feeling  which  the 
colony  displayed  of  indifference  as  to  its  rulers 
finally  developed  into  an  absolute  preference  for  a 
stronger  even  if  an  alien  set  of  masters. 

What  young  Teunis  Jansen  first  discovered,  when 
his  attention  was  turned  from  an  intimacy  with  per- 
sonal characteristics  and  surroundings  to  an  inter- 
est in  the  colony's  political  life,  was  this  growing 
disposition  to  accept  and  even  to  welcome  a  change 
of  allegiance  from  Holland  to  England. 

Young  fellows  of  nineteen,  as  a  rule,  are  inter- 
ested in  political  questions  even  if  they  do  not  study 
into  or  altogether  comprehend  them.  Teunis  Jan- 
sen was  quick  to  appreciate  and  ready  to  side  with 
the  popular  tone  in  New  Amsterdam.  He  learned 
from  the  Heer  Yerrenton  all  the  varying  phases  of 
the  colonies  troubles  and  struggles,  as,  over  his 
frequent  pipes,  the  old  trader  stated  the  facts  and 
drew  his  inferences. 

"This    Heer    Director    lords    it  over  us    like    a 


46  DUTCH  NEW  YORK. 

Muscovy  duke,"  grumbled  the  old  man  one  day,  as 
he  smarted  over  some  fresh  disregard  by  Stuyvesan 
of  the  people's  desires ;  "  he  is,  even  as  the  Heer 
Van  Dincklagen  once  said  of  him,  very  like  a  gray 
wolf  —  the  longer  he  lives  the  worse  he  bites. 
What  think  you  to-day,  Teunis  ?  Some  of  the  peo- 
ple from  the  out-ward  came  to  him  to-day  complain- 
ing because  he  had  forbidden  the  farm-hands  at  the 
bouweries  to  ride  the  goose  at  the  Shrovetide  feast. 
They  had  asked  me  to  speak  for  them  as  one  who 
knew  and  did  not  fear  the  tempers  of  the  Heer 
Director.  But  he  quickly  shut  me  up.  "  I  wonder 
at  your  fathering  such  unseemly  doing,  Heer  Yer- 
renton,'  he  said  to  me.  '  A  godly  member  of  the 
Kerck  like  you  should  know  that  it  is  both  unprofit- 
able and  unnecessary  to  celebrate  such  pagan  and 
popish  feasts!'  '  But,  Heer  Director,'  I  put  in  here, 
'  it  is  but  the  people's  sport ;  it  is,  as  you  do  know, 
tolerated  in  Holland  and  even  winked  at  here  by 
some  of  our  magistrates  — '  '  Ach,  so  ! '  broke  in 
milord  as  if  he  would  have  taken  off  my  head, 
'  tolerated,  say  you  ;  winked  at,  say  you  ?  Then 
would  I  have  you  know,  Heer  Yerrenton,  that  I,  as 
the  Director  for  their  High  Mightinesses  will  enact 
such  ordinances  as  will  tend  to  the  glory  of  God 
without  asking  the  consent  of  you  or  your  vexing 
people  or  your  city  magistrates.  I  understand 
my   quality  and    authority  and    the    nature   of    my 


DUTCH  NEW  YORK.  47 

Commission  and  I  need  neither  advice  nor  inter- 
cession.' " 

It  was  such  little  tyrannies  as  this  that  tried  the 
temper  of  the  people  of  the  colony  —  a  mixed  pop- 
ulation at  the  best  —  who  were  already  growing 
restless  under  the  restraints  of  a  purely  business 
autocracy,  and  were  becoming  each  year  more  and 
more  desirous  of  freedom.  Men  will  carelessly 
ignore  or  as  carelessly  accept  matters  of  national 
policy  or  importance  which  touch  the  abstract 
rather  than  the  personal  in  their  lives.  But  an 
interference  with  individual  possessions  or  desires 
speedily  arouses  the  combative  faculty.  A  stop- 
page of  their  Shrovetide  pranks  awoke  more  anger 
among  the  people  of  New  Amsterdam  than  did  the 
information  that  Kino:  Louis  of  France  claimed  all 
North  America  as  his  own,  or  that  England  had 
supplanted  Holland  as  the  "  Mistress  of  the  seas." 
And,  indeed,  it  was  just  such  petty  troubles  as  this 
one,  over  which  good  Anthony  Yerrenton  grew  so 
heated,  that  proved  an  influence  toward  the  final 
result  —  the  downfall  of  Holland  in  America. 

Teunis  Jansen  was  a  good  house  carpenter  and 
even  before  the  winter  was  over  he  found  no  lack 
of  employment.  At  the  Heer  Yerrenton's  sugges- 
tion he  announced  himself  before  the  next  summer 
as  a  master-builder,  and  paid  over  to  the  Director's 
"  fiscal  "  twenty  of  his  small  stock  of  guilders  (about 


48  DUTCH  NEW  YORK. 

eight  dollars)  for  what  was  called  the  "  small 
burgher  right." 

"  Not  that  I  favor  the  system,  my  lad,"  said  his 
old  friend;  "in  truth,  'tis  but  another  of  the  Heer 
Stuyvesant's  'ristocrat  antics  ;  but  it  may  help  you 
get  a  footing  in  trade,  which  is  what  I  wish  for  you, 
and  it  gives  you  certain  privileges  which  may  be  of 
profit.  I,  myself,  though  sorely  against  my  judg- 
ment, paid  out  fifty  good  guilders  for  the  '  great 
burgher  right '  —  the  which  doth  give  me  exempt- 
ion from  watches,  expeditions  and  arrest  and  doth 
make  me  eligible  for  selection  as  schepen,  burgo- 
master or  councillor.  Not  that  I  think  much  of 
the  affair.  I  do,  indeed,  grudge  the  fifty  guilders 
this  burgher  ri^ht  hath  cost  me.  It  smacketh  too 
much  of  barons  and  manors  for  a  free  woodsman 
such  as  I.     But  it  may  advantage  you,  my  lad." 

Teunis  Jansen  was  possessed  of  enough  of  the 
roving  disposition  of  his  ancestors  to  lead  him  into 
the  desire  for  a  taste  of  this  same  free  woodsman's 
life  that  the  old  trapper  and  trader  had  referred 
to.  And  so,  in  that  very  summer  of  1658,  he 
joined  himself  to  a  party  of  traders  and  penetrated 
into  the  Indian  country  beyond  the  Couxsachraga 
wilderness  and  the  still  farther  North.  He  slept 
111  hazardous  security  in  the  'long  house'  of  the 
fierce  but  politic  Iroquois,  he  saw  much  of  savage 
customs,    of    wild   wood    life   and   the    questionable 


DUTCH  NEW  YORK.  49 

methods  of  Indian  traffic  and  then  returned  to 
New  Amsterdam  quite  ready  to  settle  down  and 
"  stick  to  his  trade." 

But  one  thing,  in  particular,  he  had  noted  in  this 
spell  of  wandering  and  was  quite  ready  to  believe 
Anthony  Yerrenton's  prophecies  of  evil  concerning 
it.  That  was,  the"  unwise  sale  of  arms  and  liquor 
to  the   Indians. 

"  Time  was,  lad,"  said  the  old  trader,  in  the  se- 
curity of  his  chimney  corner,  "  when  it  was  a  crime 
justly  punishable  for  colonist  or  trader  to  sell  either 
guns  or  rum  to  the  red-skins.  We  who  were  first 
among  them  saw  the  danger  of  this  both  to  the 
red-skins  and  ourselves.  But  the  curse  of  gain  is 
on  us  all,  and  for  the  sake  of  easy  and  profitable 
traffic  our  people  now  are  ready  to  give  the  red- 
skins what  may  prove  our  death-warrant  if  we  look 
not  to  ourselves.  I  have  no  wish  for  another  sea- 
son of  '55."  # 

And  he  spoke  no  idle  words ;  for  the  very  next 
year,  in  1659,  the  Indians  ravaged  the  river  settle- 
ments and  brought  death  into  many  a  settler's  home. 
And  the  main  cause  of  the  trouble  was,  so  the  his- 
torians assure  us,  the  indiscriminate  sale  of  liquor 
and  fire-arms  to  the  Indians.  The  old  records 
plainly  declare  that  the  colonists  "did  court  and 
begin"   this  latest  trouble. 

*  It  was  in  1655  that  the  Indians  waged  a  bitter  war  of  retaliation  against  the  Dutch 


50  DUTCH  NEW  YORK. 

The  Indian,  never  able  to  resist  the  fascination 
of  the  white  man's  fire-water  and  gunpowder,  would 
sacrifice  anything  in  the  way  of  barter  to  obtain 
them,  and  the  Indian's  appetite  and  the  colonists 
greed  thus  proved  disastrous  alike  to  savage  and  to 
settler.  The  colonists  of  America  early  learned, 
though  they  did  not  heed,  the  danger  of  playing 
with  edge  tools. 

The  Dutch  West  India  Company  had  not  made 
a  success  with  its  American  possessions.  Consider- 
ing these  as  a  source,  simply,  for  revenue  from  the 
fur  trade,  the  Company  had  foolishly  ignored  all 
the  other  possibilities  of  product  and  profit  that  the 
land  afforded ;  it  had  studiously  disregarded  the 
interests  of  the  people  it  had  settled  there  and  the 
measures  by  which  the  colonists  might  have  been 
made  a  means  of  strength  rather  than  of  loss  ;  and 
it  had  from  the  first  held  back  when  it  should  have 
fostered,  and  tyrannized  when  it  should  have  been 
just  and  generous. 

English  aggression  crept  slowly  on.  Acre  by 
acre  the  patroonships  vanished  and  the  Company's 
territory  was  curtailed.  The  Dutch  claim  to  all 
the  South  River  country  was  denied ;  Long  Island 
and  Connecticut  were  absorbed,  and  even  the  right 
to  Manhattan  itself  was  challenged.  "  Maryland," 
declared  Lord  Baltimore's  secretary,  Calvert,  "ex- 
tends even  to  the  limits  of   New  England,"     "  And 


DUTCH  NEW  YORK. 


51 


New  England,  so  they  claim,  doth  extend  to  Mary- 
land," said  the  startled  Dutch  envoy ;  "  where  then 
remains  New  Netherland  ?  "  "  That,"  replied  Cal- 
vert coollv,  "  I  do  not  know." 

At  last  the  end  came.  In  the  year  1664  a  sort 
of  buccaneering  expedition  —  illegal  because  Eng- 
land and  Holland  were  not  at  war  —  was  sent  from 


"I    WOULD    RATHER    BE   CARRIED   OUT    DEAD  '  !    6AID    STUYVESAM. 

England  by  the  Duke  of  York  to  enforce  his  claims 
in  America.  The  river  and  bay  were  blockaded 
and  Colonel  Richard  Nicolls,  the  commander  of  the 
expedition,  sent  to  Stuyvesant  a  summons  to  "  sur- 
render the  towns  situate  on  the  island  commonly 
known  as  Manhattoes  with  all  the  forts  thereunto 
belonging." 


52  DUTCH  NEW  YORK. 

There  was  no  alternative.  The  crude  little  for- 
tress against  which  the  growing  town  was  crowded 
was  in  no  condition  to  withstand  attack.  The  peo- 
ple, weary  with  the  neglect  of  their  interest  by  the 
wealthy  company  that  should  have  helped  and  the 
home  government  that  should  have  protected  them 
would  oppose  no  change  that  might  prove  of  ben- 
efit to  them.  Resistance  might  only  add  to  their 
burdens,  and  men,  women  and  children  alike  com- 
bined in  petitions  to  the  governor  to  surrender  to 
the  English. 

"  I  would  rather  be  carried  out  dead,"  burst  out 
the  brave  but  stubborn  Stuyvesant.  But  one  man 
could  not  stand  against  the  combination  of  friend 
and  foe  The  flag  of  Holland  came  down  from  the 
ramparts  of  Fort  Amsterdam  and  New  Netherland 
became  an  English  province. 

That  very  year,  1664,  Teunis  Jansen,  now  a  pros- 
perous young  burgher  of  twenty-five,  was  married 
to  the  buxom  Grietje  Yerrenton,  the  daughter  of 
his  father's  old  and  trusty  comrade. 

And,  of  so  much  more  importance  are  our  own 
private  concerns  than  are  the  changes  of  dynasties 
or  the  fall  of  states,  that  the  quiet  wedding  in  the 
little  Dutch  parlor  on  De  Brugh  Straat  made  more 
of  a  stir  in  the  Yerrenton  household  than  did  the 
fall  of  Fort  Amsterdam  and  the  close  of  Dutch 
dominion  in  America. 


CHAPTER    III. 


THE    BEGINNINGS    OF    ENGLISH    RULE. 


AMES     STU- 
ART,   Duke 
of    York   and 
Albany,     Lord 
High   Admiral 
of    England,  bro- 
ther    to    King 
Charles  the  Sec- 
ond  and    heir   to 
the  crown,  was  as 
shrewd    and    un- 
scrupulous, as  he  was  despotic  and  perverse. 

His  father-in-law,  Edward  Hyde,  Earl  of  Claren- 
don and  Lord  Chancellor  of  the  Kingdom,  was 
equally  selfish  and  even  more  shrewd  and  unscrup- 
ulous. 

Actuated  solely  by  a  selfish  desire  to  increase  the 
power  of  his  princely  son-in-law  and  of  his  daughter, 
the  duchess,  and  thus  to  magnify  the  importance  of 
the  newly-created  house  of  Clarendon,  the  Chan- 
cellor had  planned  this  identical  piratical  expedition 

53 


54.     THE  BEGINNINGS   OE  ENGLISH  RULE. 

that  had  destroyed  Holland's  power  in  America  and 
created  a  topic  for  conversation  at  Teunis  Jansen's 
wedding. 

Clarendon  foresaw  that  Duke  James  would,  in  all 
probability,  some  day  become  King  of  England. 
He  also  recognized  the  fact  that  a  patent,  or  decree, 
from  King  Charles  giving  the  disputed  New  Nether- 
land  territory  to  the  Duke  would  in  time  revert  to 
the  crown.  This,  the  wily  politician  saw,  would 
create  a  central  and  direct  royal  authority  in 
America;  and  this  in  time  might  draw  all  the  other 
English  possessions  within  its  influence  and  juris- 
diction, and  thereby  check  the  growing  disposition 
to  self-rule  that  was,  so  this  aristocratic  king-wor- 
shiper believed,  growing  altogether  too  pronounced 
among  the  English  colonists  in  America. 

So  the  family  pride  of  a  tuft-hunting  English 
peer  and  the  grasping  avarice  of  a  craven  English 
prince  successfully  schemed  to  dispossess  the  ac- 
knowledged rulers  of  a  growing  commercial  colony 
across  the  broad  Atlantic,  without  question  as  to 
the  allegiance,  or  the  desires  of  the  people  who 
alone  were  building  up  the  colony.  And  thus  was 
attempted,  says  Dr.  Stevens,  "  that  policy  of  per- 
sonal rule  which,  begun  under  the  Catholic  Stuart, 
culminated  under  the  Protestant  Hanoverian,  a 
century  later,  in  the  oppression  which  aroused  the 
.American  Revolution." 


THE  BEGINNINGS   OE  ENGLISH  RULE.      55 

The  people  of  the  province,  more  thoughtful  of 
each  day's  duties  or  necessities  than  of  the  causes 
of  the  political  move  that  changed  them  from  Dutch 
to  English  allegiance,  accepted  the  transfer  without 
protest. 

Indeed,  as  we  have  seen,  a  certain  public  senti- 
ment, in  a  measure,  contributed  to  this  transfer. 
And,  after  it  was  accomplished,  the  people,  in  a 
negative  way,  welcomed  the  change  of  rulers  in  the 
hope  of  a  better  condition  of  trade  under  the  vigor- 
ous methods  of  England. 

Colonel  Nicolls,  representing  the  conquerors,  was 
the  sworn  partisan  of  the  Duke  of  York,  but  he 
was  wise  enough  to  be  "  both  prudent  and  concili- 
atory "  toward  the  conquered.  Acting  under  his 
suggestion  the  leading  Dutch  citizens  gave  up 
their  original  intention  of  returning  to  Holland  and 
(including  even  the  obstinate  Heer  Director  Stuyve- 
sant  himself)  took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Eng- 
lish king.  They,  it  would  seem,  were  shrewd  enough 
to  see  that  loyalty  to  England,  in  America,  was  bet- 
ter for  their  pockets  than  hostility  to  England,  in 
Holland, —  especially  when  the  removal  meant  an 
abandonment  of  promising  business  interests. 

The  province  speedily  became  English  in  name 
and  in  titles  if  not  in  population  and  in  customs. 
New  Amsterdam  became  New  York,  Fort  Orange 
Albany,  Esopus  Kingston,  and  a  code  of  laws  was 


56      THE   BEGINNINGS   OF  ENGLISH  RILE. 

established  which  granted  to  the  province,  in  name 
if  not  in  fact,  religious  freedom,  trial  by  jury,  equal 
taxation  and  unhampered  possession  of  property 
both  in  lands  and  slaves.  The  old-time  offices  of 
schepen  and  burgomaster  were  abolished  and,  in 
their  stead,  appeared  the  English  form  of  civic  gov- 
ernment, with  its  mayor,  aldermen  and  sheriff. 

Old  Anthony  Yerrenton,  English  though  he  was, 
grumbled  more  at  this  last  change  than  did  even  his 
own  Dutch  neighbors. 

"  A  plague  on  all  their  foolery!  "  he  said  to  Teunis 
one  day  when  the  news  came  that  Captain  Thomas 
Willett  was  named  by  Colonel  Nicolls  as  the  first 
"  mayor "  of  New  York.  "  Why  not  leave  well 
enough  alone  ?  Tom  Willett  is  an  honest  and  able 
fellow,  which  is  more  than  one  can  say  of  some 
other  of  those  Plymouth  Colony  men  that  have 
come  over  here  —  jankers*  and  malcontents  most 
of  'em.  Willett,  too,  hath  a  better  knowledge  of 
our  Dutch  ways  and  speech  than  have  most  Eng- 
lishmen, but  the  old  ways  were  best.  It  all  cloth 
smack  too  much  of  the  palace  and  the  court  to 
suit  a  rough  old  woodsman  like  me." 

Protest  however  was  useless.  Both  Nicolls  and 
his  master,  the  Duke,  were  determined  not  to  be 
troubled  in  New  York  by  the  democratic  spirit  that 

*  "  Janker  "  is  an  old  Dutch  verb,  meaning  to  growl  or  to  scold.  It  was  applied  by  the 
Dutchmen  of  New  Netlteiiand  to  their  rivals  of  the  Massachusetts  colonies,  and  is  said  to  be 
the  original  of  the  word  "  Yankei 


THE  BEGINNINGS    OF  ENGLISH  RULE.      57 

was  so  apparent  in  Massachusetts.  They  would 
not  yield  to  the  wishes  of  "  men  misled  by  the  spirit 
of  independency  "  as  Colonel  Nicolls  declared,  and 
the  new  order  of  things  went  into  effect  notwith- 
standing the  protests  of  the  people. 

But  the  high-handed  method  by  which  England 
acquired  possession  of  a  new  province  was  quickly 
resented  by  Holland.  That  thrifty  but  inconsist- 
ent republic,  when  it  had  once  lost  what  it  really 
did  not  care  to  keep,  straightway  discovered  how 
much,  apparently,  it  did  need  its  meagre  foothold 
on  American  soil. 

In  a  great  rage  it  protested,  blustered,  demanded 
and  threatened  and  finally  forced  England,  in  1665, 
into  a  declaration  of  war. 

For  over  two  years  the  fleets  of  England  and 
Holland  fought  out,  in  European  waters,  the  con- 
test for  the  possession  of  a  strip  of  distant  country, 
three  thousand  miles  across  the  western  sea.  The 
maritime  power  of  the  Dutch  Republic  was  well- 
nigh  invincible.  Success  followed  success  and  the 
war  which  was  closed  by  the  treaty  of  Breda,  in 
1667,  was  in  reality  a  vindication  of  Holland's  naval 
supremacy. 

But  it  was  also  an  assertion  of  her  mercantile 
shrewdness,  quite  as  well.  For,  by  the  terms  of 
the  treaty  of  Breda,  Holland,  singularly  enough,  al- 
though gaining  its  ends  gave  up  the  very  territory 


58      THE  BEG1NXIXGS   OF  ENGLISH  RULE. 

in  defence  of  which  it  fought.  The  English  re- 
ceived the  province  of  New  Netherlands  in  ex- 
change for  the  islands  of  Poleron  and  Surinam  in 
the  East  Indian  seas,  and  for  Nova  Scotia  in  the 
north.  This  was  a  shrewd  bargain  for  Holland. 
The  spices  and  highly-valued  products  of  the  East 
Indian  islands  and  the  great  fish-harvest  of  Nova 
Scotia  far  outweighed  in  profit  the  limited  fur 
supply  of  the  New  Netherland  province.  But  the 
states  of  Holland  thus  ratified  by  treaty  the  very 
act  of  piracy  which  drove  them  into  war. 

The  province  of  New  York,  the  cause  of  all  this 
strife  and  diplomacy,  experienced  none  of  the  blows 
of  the  actual  conflict,  but  it  felt  what  was  of  even 
deeper  weight  —  the  woes  of  complete  negligence. 

"  A  fico  for  all  this  fighting  and  trimming," 
grumbled  old  Anthony  Yerrenton  as  he  dandled  a 
chubby  little  grandson  in  Teunis  Jansen's  home  ; 
"  a  fico  for  it  all,  say  I.  Of  what  use  is  it  to  us 
here  whether  De  Ruyter  whip  or  the  Duke  bears 
the  broom  so  long  as  we  are  dying  of  doing  naught. 
If  we  are  worth  the  fiohtino-  for  we  are  worth  the 
fosterino-  and  none  of  this  doth  England  do.  Allard 
Anthony,  the  sheriff,  you  know,  lad,  did  tell  me  but 
yesterday  at  the  Stadt  Huys  that  the  Heer  Governor 
Nicolls  declareth  that  he  hath  spent  every  dollar  of 
his  own  for  the  needs  of  the  province,  and  that  if 
the    French    Mounseers   should   take   it   into   their 


THE  BEGINNINGS   OF  ENGLISH  RULE.      59 

heads  to  pounce  down  upon  us  from  Canada  he 
hath  neither  men  nor  means  to  resist  them." 

"  That  is  true,  father,"  responded  Teunis  ;  "  Ser- 
geant Manning  of  the  Fort's  garrison  told  me  that 
his  soldiers  were  sick  of  a  service  which  promised 
them  little  and  brought  them  naught.  He  says  that 
since  they  came  out  of  England  not  one  of  them 
hath  been  in  a  pair  of  sheets,  or  upon  any  sort  of 
bed  but  canvas  and  straw." 

"  Our  wharves  are  rotting  and  our  trade  is  dead/' 
went  on  old  Anthony,  simply  nodding  in  approval 
of  his  son-in-law's  parenthesis ;  "  the  city  streets 
and  palisades  are  falling  to  ruin  for  lack  of  care, 
and  Cornelis  Steenwyck  tells  me,  only  this  very 
morning,  that  the  French  Mounseers  fell  upon  his 
last  galiot,  the  Faith,  barely  off  Montauk,  and  now 
he  hath  not  a  vessel  left.  And  if  he  had  of  what 
profit  would  it  be  when  our  English  masters  take 
no  heed  of  our  straits  and  send  no  battle  ships  to 
protect  our  ports  ?  " 

But  as  Holland's  treaty-demands  showed,  neither 
that  country  nor  England  regarded  the  New  York 
province  as  really  worth  the  fighting  for.  In  1668 
one  of  the  English  commissioners,  Samuel  Mav- 
erick, wrote  to  the  Duke  of  York,  "  Long  Island  is 
very  poor  and  inconsiderable,  and  besides  the  city 
of  New  York,  there  are  but  two  Dutch  towns  of 
anv  importance,   Esopus  and  Albany." 


60      THE   BEGINXIXGS   OF  ENGLISH  RULE. 

Affairs,  however,  were  soon  to  change  for  the 
better.  The  famous  political  alliance  which  the 
three  Protestant  governments  of  England,  Holland 
and  Sweden  formed  (known  as  the  Triple  Alliance) 
brought  the  opposing  interests  of  Dutch  and  Eng- 
lish in  the  New  York  province  into  closer  and 
more  friendly  relations.  Business  took  a  fresh 
start,  building  operations  increased,  commerce  be- 
tween the  colonies  grew  and  the  town  and  province 
alike  felt  the  impetus  of  prosperity.  Governor 
Nicolls,  wearied  with  the  strain  which  his  govern- 
ment had  brought  upon  him,  returned  to  England 
in  1668,  and  Governor  Lovelace  who  succeeded 
him,  though  lacking  the  energy  of  Nicolls,  was 
selfishly  desirous  of  increasing  the  importance  of 
his  government,  and  the  measures  which  he  adopted 
had  the  double  effect  of  serving  his  own  interest 
and  awaking  the  business  energies  of  the  little  city. 

Matters  went  along  with  comparative  smoothness 
for  several  years.  The  merchants  of  New  York  — 
few  and  scant  of  purse,  to  be  sure,  but  as  eager  for 
gain  as  their  modern  successors  —  met  every  Fri- 
day at  noon  (commencing  on  March  24,  1670)  upon 
the  bridge  that  spanned  the  narrow  ditch  in  Broad 
Street,  to  discuss  and  arrange  their  various  financial 
concerns;  And  thus  was  laid  the  foundation  of 
the  New  York  Exchange.  For  this  very  body  of 
slow-going   Dutch   and    English    shopkeepers,  who 


THE  BEGINNINGS   OE  ENGLISH  RULE.       63 

spent  their  Friday  mornings  in  the  open-air  closing 
their  transactions  and  dodging  the  flying  sleds  of 
the  boyish  coasters,  grew  at  last  into  that  powerful 
association  of  merchants  which  for  years  has  guided 
or  manipulated  the  monetary  transactions  of  half 
the  world. 

The  outlying  towns,  too,  grew  slowly  but  surely. 
In  the  North  Albany  was  developing  from  a  border 
trading  post  into  a  compact  and  well-ordered  town; 
the  little  palisaded  settlement  of  Schenectady  was 
obtaining  a  firm  footing  in  the  valley  of  the  Mo- 
hawk ;  Esopus,  or  Kingston,  further  down  the  Hud- 
son, Was  a  growing  midway  station  between  New 
York  and  Albany,  while  the  Long  Island  towns 
some  dozen  in  number  from  Brooklyn  and  Bush- 
wick  eastward  to  the  Hamptons,  though  always 
more  inclined  to  affiliate  with  the  Connecticut  and 
Massachusetts  colonies,  were  still  part  of  the  pro- 
vince of  New  York  and  seemed,  some  of  them, 
almost  as  thriving  commercially  as  they  do  to-day. 

But  in  1672  came  another  change.  The  "Triple 
Alliance  "  was  broken  ;  England  and  Holland  once 
again  were  foes ;  and  one  fine  August  morning  in 
the  year  1673  Teunis  Jansen  rushed  into  his  father- 
in-law's  house  on  the  Bridge  Street  with  the  start- 
ling information  that  a  Dutch  fleet  of  twenty-seven 
ships  was  anchored  off  Staten  Island  and  there 
was  likely  to  be  a  row. 


64       THE   BEGINNINGS   OF  ENGLISH  RULE. 

"  A  black  murrain  on  kings  and  princes,"  broke 
out  democratic  old  Anthony,  flinging  down  his 
pipe  upon  his  goode  vrouw's  well-sanded  floor 
and  springing  to  his  feet,  "  are  we  never  to  be  in 
comfort  in  this  badgered  town?  Here's  the  Heer 
Governor  off  a-junketing  in  Connecticut,  and  no 
one  but  that  chicken-hearted  Manning  in  command 
at  the  Fort.  We  all  be  Dutch  again,  lad,  before 
to-morrow's  sun." 

And  the  old  man  was  right.  Captain  John  Man- 
ning in  command  at  the  fort  had  neither  the  pluck 
nor  the  desire  to  defend  an  almost  defenceless  town 
against  the  attack  of  sixteen  hundred  hardy  Dutch 
fighters.  When,  therefore,  lie  heard  that  certain  of 
the  compatriots  of  the  invaders  among  the  burgh- 
ers of  the  town  had  gone  out  in  a  body  to  meet 
and  welcome  the  six  hundred  men  who  had  just 
been  landed  from  the  fleet  he  pulled  down  the 
English  flag  from  the  fort  and  surrendered  his  post 
without  a  blow. 

So  New  York  became  Dutch  again.  The  old 
order  of  things  was  restored,  and  Captain  Anthony 
Colve  became  Governor-General  of  the  captured 
province. 

But,  as  usual,  New  York  was  a  shuttlecock  for 
European  kings  and  statesmen  rather  than  the 
property  of  its  own  people.  The  States  General 
of    Holland    felt    that    they   could    not    long    keep 


THE  BEGINNINGS   OF  ENGLISH  RULE.      65 

peaceable  possession  of  a  country  so  hemmed  in 
by  English-speaking  folk  and  before  a  year  had 
passed,  in  July,  1674,  news  came  to  the  little  city 
by  the  sea  that  it  had  been  given  up  by  Holland 
and  that  it  was  once  again  a  province  of  England. 

"  Well,  well,"  commented  old  Anthony  Yerrenton 
as  he  heard  the  news,  "  it  matters  little  to  us  who 
may  be  our  masters,  since  masters  I  suppose  we 
must  have.  I  told  Cornells  Steenwyck  when  he 
and  the  other  Dutch  merchants  sent  over  their 
petition  and  remonstrance  to  the  States  General 
that  they  would  have  only  their  labor  for  their 
pains.  If  this  land  is  to  be  English  why,  then, 
English  it  will  be  and  it  is  far  wiser  for  us  to 
strengthen  our  own  homes  than  weaken  'em  by 
courting  an  impossibility.  We're  the  Duke's  peo- 
ple still  and  it  is  better  for  us  to  strive  for  the 
English  shillings  rather  than  sigh  for  the  Dutch 
guilders." 

Again  the  old  man  was  right.  The  Duke  of 
York,  learning  wisdom  from  experience,  obtained 
from  his  brother,  the  king,  a  new  patent  of  posses- 
sion that  gave  him  greater  powers  than  before,  but 
he  modified  his  autocratic  possibilities  by  conces- 
sions to  the  "  people  "  whom,  as  a  class,  he  hated 
and  yet  was  shrewd  enough  to  favor.  Major  Ed- 
mund Andros,  a  trooper  of  Prince  Rupert's  dra- 
goons, was  sent  to  New  York  as  royal  governor  and 


66      THE   BEGINNINGS   OF  ENGLISH  RILE. 

arrived  off  Staten  Island,  October  22,  1674.  The 
next  day  the  official  transfer  of  the  province  from 
Dutch  to  English  rulers  was  made  at  the  Stadt 
Huys,  or  City  Hall,  on  the  Strand,  or  water-side 
(now  Pearl  Street),  and  the  New  Netherlands 
became  again,  and  for  all  future  time,  New  York. 

The  power  of  Holland  in  America  had  come  to 
an  end.  Sixty  years  of  misrule  had  but  served  to 
display  the  weakness  and  negligence  of  a  merely 
mercantile  autocracy.  Regardful  only  of  personal 
profit  it  had  deliberately  neglected  those  ways  of 
wisdom  and  of  statesmanship  which  might  have 
made  the  province  of  the  New  Netherlands  a  self- 
supporting  colony,  a  foothold  for  Dutch  sovereignty 
in  America,  and  thus  perhaps  materially  have 
changed  the  future  history  of  the  American  people. 
For  all  their  failures  and  for  all  their  losses  in  these 
new  lands  across  the  sea,  the  Dutch  West  India 
Company  and  the  States  General  of  Holland  had 
only  themselves  to  thank,  for  theirs  had  been  a 
record  of  selfishness,  of  negligence,  of  procrastina- 
tion and  of  greed. 

But  the  people  whom  their  brief  era  of  occupancy 
had  drawn  to  America  were  of  the  true  Dutch  stock. 
Slow-moving,  heavy  and  phlegmatic  they  were  still 
of  that  sturdy  race  whom  years  of  resistance  to  op- 
pression had  made  into  a  nation  of  freemen.  God- 
fearing but  tolerant,  conservative  but  wide-hearted 


THE   BEGINNINGS   OF  ENGLISH  RULE.      67 

they  had  made  liberty  possible  in  Europe  and 
permanent  in  America  ;  for  it  is  not  too  much  to 
affirm  that  but  for  the  asylum  granted  in  Holland 
to  the  persecuted  of  every  nation  and  creed,  and 
but  for  the  refuge  extended  in  New  Amsterdam  to 
the  banished  reformers  of  less-tolerant  colonies 
neither  pilgrim  nor  puritan,  quaker  nor  dissenter 
would  have  been  able  to  have  perpetuated  their 
protests  or  given  practical  progress  to  their  faiths. 
The  spirit  that  grew  into  that  demand  for  per- 
sonal liberty  made  fact  by  the  American  Revolu- 
tion could  scarcely  have  gained  force  or  form  had 
Holland  been  less  tolerant  or  the  New  Netherlands 
less  conservative.  Beneath  the  corner-stone  of  the 
American  Republic  lies  the  strong  supporting  soil 
of  Dutch  liberty,  Dutch  toleration  and  Dutch 
integrity. 

A  trooper  by  education  and  experience  Major 
Edmund  Andros  brought  to  the  performance  of  his 
official  duties  that  uncompromising  military  spirit 
that  demands  all  and  is  tolerant  of  no  opposition. 
The  leading  Dutch  burghers  who,  rightfully,  desired 
to  be  assured  of  religious  freedom  and  exemption 
from  bearing  arms  against  their  home-land  of  Hol- 
land  were  declared  mutinous  and  seditious  and 
placed  under  arrest.  Any  attempt  on  the  part  of 
the  people  to  think  or  act  for  themselves  was  es- 
teemed rebellious,  and  the  rule  of  Andros  though 


.68      THE   BEGINNINGS   OF  ENGLISH  RULE. 

apparently  directed  toward  the  bettering  of  the 
province  showed  always  behind  the  word  of  the 
governor  the  sword  of   the  soldier. 

But  the  people  would  think  for  themselves  in 
spite  of  king  or  duke  or  royal  governor.  They 
petitioned  for  the  right  to  assemble  by  their  rep- 
resentatives to  plan  and  shape  their  own  affairs  of 
trade  and  public  welfare.  "  Our  trade  is  crippled 
and  our  liberties  are  enthralled,"  they  boldly  de- 
clared, "  by  the  inexpressible  burden  of  an  arbitrary 
power." 

The  leaven  of  liberty  was  already  at  work,  but  it 
was  greed  and  not  patriotism  that  brought  it  suc- 
cess. The  thrifty  Duke  of  York  was  in  need  of 
money  and  although  he  insisted  that  such  conces- 
sions to  the  people  were  worse  than  useless  and 
"  hazardous  to  the  peace  of  the  government,"  he 
finally  made  the  concession  as  a  matter  of  bargain 
and  sale,  agreeing  that  if  the  people  of  the  province 
would  raise  sufficient  money  to  pay  off  the  public 
debt  he  would  "  condescend  "  to  their  desires. 

The  right  of  representation  thus  grudgingly  sold 
to  the  very  people  to  whom  it,  in  justice,  belonged 
was  among  the  earliest  steps  in  the  advance  toward 
popular  sovereignty  in  America.  An  assembly  of 
eighteen  representing  the  freeholders  of  New  York, 
Long  Island,  Ksopus  and  Albany,  together  with  the 
distant  but  kindred  settlements  under  the    Duke's 


THE  BEGINNINGS   OF  ENGIISH  RULE.      7 1 

patent  of  Martha's  Vineyard  and  Pemaquid  on  the 
coast  of  Maine  met  in  the  fort  in  New  York  on 
the  seventeenth  of  October,  1683  —  being  duly 
vested  with  "  full  liberty  to  consult  and  debate 
for  all  laws  "  and  to  carry  into  effect  all  such  save 
those  "  disapproved  by  the  Duke  "  —  a  grudging 
way  of  conceding  and  thus  practically  obstructing 
the  concession. 

Before  the  arrival  of  that  great  day,  however  —  a 
red-letter  day  for  colonial  New  York  —  Major,  now 
Sir  Edmund  Andros,  had  been  recalled  and  Captain 
Thomas  Dongan,  another  soldier  and  henchman  of 
the   Duke,  was  sent  as  royal  governor  in  his  stead. 

Teunis  Jansen,  now  growing  into  middle  life, 
was  one  of  those  who  most  ardently  desired  and 
most  joyfully  welcomed  this  earliest  recognition  in 
America  of  the  "  people  "  by  their  kingly  masters. 

"  It  means  a  great  deal,  does  it  not,  father?  "  he 
said  to  old  Anthony  Yerrenton  as,  together,  they 
discussed  the  "  Charter  of  Liberties "  that  the 
assembly  had  passed.  "'  No  aid,  tax,  custom,  loan, 
benevolence,  or  imposition  whatever/  they  declare, 
'  shall  be  levied  within  this  province  under  any  pre- 
tence, but  by  the  consent  of  the  governor,  council 
and  representatives  of  the  people  in  general  assem- 
bly.' Does  not  that  mean  a  better  day  for  the 
province  and  the  people?" 

"  It  does  indeed,  my  son,"  said  wise  old  Anthony, 


72      THE  BEGINNINGS   OF  ENGLISH  RULE. 

"it  does  indeed — if  it  be  allowed.  But  mark  my 
word,  Duke  James  is  not  the  man  to  allow  it.  This 
Charter  of  Liberties,  even  though  he  may  seem  to 
concede  it  now,  will  never  be  permitted  to  stand." 

And  so  it  proved.  For  when,  in  1685,  the  Duke 
James  became,  by  the  death  of  his  brother  Charles, 
King  James  of  England,  one  of  his  first  acts  was  to 
contemptuously  repudiate  the  people's  Charter  on 
the  ground  that  it  allowed  too  much  liberty,  and 
thereupon  he  proceeded  at  once  to  consolidate 
and  strengthen  his  power  in  America  by  uniting 
all  the  Northeastern  colonies  from  Maine  to  New 
York  into  the  single  department  of  the  Domin- 
ion of  New  England.  A  more  impolitic  measure 
could  not  have  been  attempted.  The  antagonisms 
between  Dutchman  and  "  Yankee  "  were  yet  all  too 
pronounced  to  make  union  possible.  Bickerings 
and  cross-petitions,  charges  and  counter-charges 
were  frequent,  and  the  "  Dominion  of  New  Eng- 
land," as  we  shall  see,  speedily  resolved  itself  into 
its  original  conditions. 

The  revenge  of  the  people  for  this  royal  repudi- 
ation of  a  solemn  charter  of  rights  was  to  come, 
however,  and  sooner  than  they  could  anticipate. 
King  James  of  England  brought  to  the  assump- 
tion of  his  royal  prerogatives  all  the  selfishness 
and  obstinacy  that  had  marked  his  days  of  ducal 
power,  intensified  by  the  superior  advantages  of  his 


THE  BEGINNINGS   OF  ENGLISH  RULE.      *]$ 

promotion  to  a  throne.  Despotism  worked  its  own 
ruin  and  James  Stuart,  as  a  recent  writer  observes, 
"  by  his  bigotry  and  arbitrary  measures  threw  away 
the  crown  of  England." 

The  new  king,  William  of  Orange,  though  the 
grandson  of  an  English  monarch  was  a  Dutchman 
by  birth  and  the  head  of  the  Dutch  Republic.  The 
news  of  his  accession  was  joyfully  hailed  by  Dutch 
New  York  as  promising  a  return  to  what  they  now 
looked  back  upon  as  the  "  good  old  times  "  of 
Dutch  living  and  government. 

But  the  aristocracy  of  the  province  were  luke- 
warm in  their  allegiance.  The  little  clique  of  "  first 
families  "  that  sought  to  arrogate  the  authority  to 
themselves  and  ape  the  manners  of  the  English 
court  in  the  little  stockaded  towns  of  a  Western 
wilderness  hesitated  to  desert  a  king  whose  favor 
they  had  so  long  coveted.  When  once  assured 
that  the  change  of  rulers  was  absolute,  they  sought 
to  themselves  assume  the  leadership  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  the  people.  But  the  people  had  already 
caught  the  inspiration  of  resistance.  Discrediting 
both  King  James  and  his  adherents  and  regarding 
them  as  the  enemies  of  Protestantism  and  of  lib- 
erty they  determined  themselves  to  control  their 
own  affairs  until  definite  instructions  from  the  new 
king  should  reach  them.  The  royal  governor  of 
the  attempted  Dominion,  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  was 


74      THE   BEGINNINGS   OF  ENGLISH  RULE. 

a  prisoner  to  the  rebellious  Boston  colonists  ;  his 
deputy,  Nicholson,  whom  he  had  left  in  New  York 
weakly  deserted  his  post,  and  at  the  call  of  the 
people  one  of  their  own  men,  Captain  Jacob  Leis- 
ler,  a  respectable  and  respected  citizen  of  New 
York,  had  the  courage  to  assume  the  government 
of  the  province  until  the  orders  of  the  new  king 
should  come  to  them  from  England. 

No  man  has  been  more  maligned  or  misunder- 
stood than  Jacob  Leisler.  Historians  have  delib- 
erately misjudged  him,  drawing  their  conclusions 
from  the  biased  reports  of  the  few  aristocrats  who 
hated  or  the  English  officials  who  despised  him. 
Jacob  Leisler  was  one  of  the  earliest  of  American 
patriots.  His  brief  and  stormy  career  as  provin- 
cial governor  of  New  York  was  marked  by  mis- 
takes of  judgment,  but  his  mistakes  were  more 
than  overbalanced  by  his  foresight  and  statesman- 
ship. He  acted  as  one  of  the  people  for  the  people. 
He  summoned  a  popular  convention,  arranged  the 
first  mayoralty  election  by  the  people,  attempted 
the  first  step  toward  colonial  union  by  endeavoring 
to  interest  the  several  provinces  in  a  continental 
congress  and  sought  to  cripple  the  chief  adversary 
of  the  English  in  America,  France,  by  the  masterly 
stroke  of  an  invasion  of  Canada.  That  he  failed  is 
due  to  the  jealousy,  the  timidity  and  the  short- 
sightedness of  his  fellow-colonists.     Hut  he  builcled 


THE   BEGINNINGS   OF  ENGIISH  RULE.      75 

wiser  than  he  knew,  for  though  he  died  a  martyr  to 
colonial  jealousy  and  English  injustice  his  bold  and 
patriotic  measures  awoke  the  people  to  a  knowledge 
of  their  real  power  and  prepared  them  for  that  spirit 
of  resistance  to  tyranny  which  made  them  a  century- 
later  a  free  republic* 

Leisler  was  hanged  for  usurpation  and  treason 
May  15,  1 69 1,  by  the  officers  of  the  very  king  whom 
he  had  sought  to  strengthen  and  maintain,  and  at 
the  instigation  of  the  aristocratic  clique  who  feared 
and  hated  him.  His  murderer  and  successor  —  the 
royal  governor  appropriately  named  Sloughter  — 
assumed  the  power  and  the  short-lived  Dominion 
of  New  England  so  elaborately  organized  by  King 
James,  fell  to  pieces.  New  York  again  become  a 
separate  and  independent  province,  and  the  rule  of 
the  people  was  for  a  time  postponed. 

But  in  the  midst  of  the  Leislerian  troubles,  the 
affairs  of  the  province  were  for  a  while  forgotten  in 
the  little  house  on  Pearl  Street.  For  one  bright 
summer  morning  good  old  Anthony  Yerrenton 
breathed  his  last,  and  Teunis  Jansen,  now  a  re- 
spectable citizen  with  a  growing  family,  mourned 


*"Of  this  protomartyr  of  American  Independence,"  says  Frederick  De  Peyster,  referring 
to  Jacob  Leisler,  "  the  world  knows  too  little  ;  for  to  his  earnest  and  honest  services  in  oppo- 
sition to  monarchical  usurpation  and  ministerial  violations  of  the  political  rights  of  the  subject, 
even  the  pens  of  republican  historians  have  been  too  tardy  in  rendering  appropriate  and  suffi- 
cient honor.''  The  author  of  this  volume  admiring  the  sturdy  and  uncompromising  spirit  of 
this  "people's  governor"  and  feeling  with  Mr.  De  Peyster,  that  a  great  character  had  been 
thus  persistently  ignored,  has  sought  to  present  his  story,  especially  for  the  information  of 
young  Americans,  in  an  historical  romance  for  young  people  entitled  "  In  Leisler's  Times." 


76      THE   BEGINNINGS    OF  ENGIISH  RULE. 

the  loss  of  his  most  trusted  friend  and  adviser.  In 
the  death  of  the  staunch  old  woodsman  Teunis 
recognized  the  severing  of  the  last  link  between  the 
stirring  times  which  were  making  history  for  the 
little  town  his  father-in-law  had  helped  to  found 
and  the  early  days  of  its  rude  and  unprophetic 
beginnings. 


Note.  —  In  the  story  of  those  early  workers  whose  unrequited  labors  so  assured  the  future 
of  the  State  they  helped  to  found,  place  should  be  given  and  thanks  accorded  to  another  "  for- 
gotten statesmen,"  who  but  slightly  antedates  the  time  of  Governor  Leisler.  To  the  foresight 
and  efforts  of  an  honest  Dutchman  of  the  Mohawk  Valley  was  due  the  settlement  of  what  has 
been  termed  "the  most  momentous  and  far-reaching  question  ever  brought  to  issue  on  this 
continent,"  namely :  whose,  of  the  white  conquerors,  should  be  the  ownership  of  the  North 
American  Continent?  This  question  was  settled  by  the  peaceful  but  diplomatic  policy  of  the 
Heer  Arendt  Van  Curler.  Appreciating  the  value  of  the  Indian's  friendship  in  maintaining 
the  security  of  a  growing  State,  he  concluded  a  treaty  of  peace  with  the  dominant  native 
power  — the  Iroquois  of  Central  New  York.  By  a  simple  act  of  faith  well-kept  he  shat- 
tered the  warlike  measures  and  the  intricate  diplomacies  alike  of  French  governor  and 
Jesuit  priest  and  made  his  Indian  allies  so  loyal  to  "the  covenant  of  Corlaer "  that  suc- 
ceeding Dutch  and  English  rulers  found  but  little  trouble  in  keeping  a  band  of  ferocious 
foemen  true  to  the  pledges  made  to  this  earliest  of  New  York  statesmen.  The  title 
"Corlaer  "was  given  by  the  Indians  to  all  future  governors  of  New  York.  Even  to  this 
day,  we  are  assured  by  Van  Curler's  stanch  eulogist  Mr.  William  Eliot  Griffis,  the  "  Kora"  by 
which  the  Northern  Indians  designate  any  one  of  exalted  position  or  renown  is  but  the  native 
rendering  of  the  name  of  their  earliest  friend  among  the  Dutchmen  of  the  New  Netherlands, 
the  man  whose  word  they  could  trust  among  all  the  insincerities  of  their  white  conquerors  — 
Arendt  Van  Curler,  the  founder  of  Schenectady. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


UNDER  THE  ROYAL  GOVERNORS. 


HE  defeat  of 
the  people 
which  the  res- 
toration    of 

kingly  author- 
ity in  per- 
plexed New 
York  empha- 
sized   was     in 


effect  their  victory.  It  taught  them  to  think  for 
themselves.  The  taste  of  power  which  their  free 
elections  and  their  independent  actions  furnished, 
came  as  the  first  glimmer  of  that  latent  desire  for 
self-government  that  was  in  time  to  lead  to  success- 
ful rebellion. 

Teunis  Jansen  succeeded  to  the  heritage  of  dem- 
ocratic ideas  and  sterling  common  sense  that  his 
old  friend  and  father-in-law,  Anthony  Yerrenton, 
had  acquired  during  his  sixty  years  of  American 
pioneering.  The  younger  man  keenly  felt  the 
loss  of  his   dear  old  mentor  and  mourned  for  him 

77 


78  UNDER    THE   ROYAL    GOVERNORS. 

sincerely,  while  he  brought  up  his  own  girls  and 
boys  in  the  line  of  honest  work  and  conscientious 
labor  that  their  good  grandfather  so  often  enjoined 
upon  them. 

The  close  of  the  Leislerian  troubles  found  Teu- 
nis  an  honest  and  hard-working  citizen  of  very 
moderate  means  but  with  a  small  and  substantial 
house  on  the  Winckel  Street,  not  far  away  from  the 
one  from  which  he  had  taken  his  wife.  His  eldest 
son,  also  a  Teunis  Jansen,  was  already  well  on 
toward  manhood  and  had  started  a  little  home  of 
his  own  on  one  of  the  new  streets  near  the  "  clover- 
pasture  " —  now  Pine  Street.  A  second  son,  with 
something  of  the  roving  disposition  of  his  grand- 
father, had  never  returned  from  the  expedition 
which  Governor  Leisler  had  hoped  to  see  en- 
gage in  the  successful  invasion  of  Canada.  His 
mother  mourned  the  wandering  spirit  of  her  absent 
boy,  but  his  father  had  heard  of  him  as  being  a 
successful  trapper  and  trader  among  the  friendly 
Indians,  and  knew  that  the  time  would  come  when 
the  lad  would  drop  into  more  settled  ways  and  per- 
haps found  a  home  for  himself  in  the  attractive 
lands  about  the  distant   Mohawk. 

The  schooling  that  the  boys  and  girls  obtained 
in  those  far-off  days  was  limited  but  sturdy.  The 
sons  and  daughters  of  Teunis  Jansen  were  skilled 
in     the    elements    only    and    were     none    of    them 


UNDER    THE   ROYAL    GOVERNORS.  8 1 

over-proficient  in  those.  But  in  that  era  of  begin- 
nings literary  attainments  were  not  so  needful  as 
were  muscle  for  labor  and  wit  for  trade.  So  the 
children  and  grandchildren  of  Teunis  Jansen  were 
furnished  with  just  sufficient  "  book-learning "  to 
enable  them  to  reckon  in  Dutch  and  English 
money,  to  wrrite  a  fairly  intelligible  letter  and  to 
have  their  catechism  at  their  tongues'  ends.  The 
girls,  however,  were  experts  in  all  housewifely  duties 
and  the  boys  were  familiar  with  one  or  the  other  of 
the  "  handicraft  trades  "  at  which  very  early  in  life 
they  must  learn  to  "  turn  their   hands." 

There  was  already  a  cosmopolitan  air  about  the 
little  city  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson  —  a  flavor 
of  fusing  nationalities  which  was  to  a  certain 
extent  prophetic  of  the  character  of  the  future 
metropolis.  The  Dutch  traditions  and  the  cus- 
toms of  the  original  settlers  clung  tenaciously  to 
the  daily  life  of  the  town;  the  Dutch  element  still 
led  in  point  of  numbers ;  but  a  large  share  of  the 
inhabitants  was  composed  of  other  nationalities. 
The  river  settlements  were  even  more  distinctively 
Dutch,  but  the  Long  Island  towns  were  strongly 
English  and  in  the  trading  posts  and  border  set- 
tlements at  the  north  was  noticeable  a  strong  in- 
fusion  of  French  blood  from  across  the  Canadian 
border. 

It  was    this  very  Canadian    border    that,  for    at 


82     UNDER    THE  ROYAL    GOVERNORS. 

least  one  half  the  eighteenth  century,  was  to  be 
the  source  of  excitement  to  the  New  York  colony, 
the  problem  of  royal  governors  and  the  ever  pres- 
ent excuse  for  slowness  in  tax  returns  which  the 
dilatory  colonist  invariably  fell  back  upon. 

From  the  day  when  the  "corsairs"  and  explorers 
of  France  claimed  all  North  America  for  their 
Lord  the  King,  France  and  England  had  been  in 
open  dispute  as  to  the  extent  and  limit  of  the 
Canadian  frontiers.  Only  the  loyalty  of  the  real 
owners  of  the  soil  —  the  freedom-loving  Iroquois 
of  Central  New  York  —  to  their  treaties  of  friend- 
ship with  the  Dutch  settlers  of  New  York  and 
with  their  English  successors  kept  the  arms  of 
France  at  bay.  The  Iroquois  were  the  real  bul- 
wark of  English  occupation. 

Frontenac,  most  restless  and  most  picturesque  of 
all  the  French  governors  of  Canada  was  as  shrewd 
as  he  was  fearless,  and  his  plans  for  the  invasion 
and  conquest  of  the  English  possessions  were  skill- 
fully laid  and  often  fatally  near  to  successful  execu- 
tion. The  massacre  at  Schenectady  during  the 
disturbed  days  of  Leisler's  times  was  one  of  these 
sudden  incursions.  Frontenac,  through  all  his 
long  career  as  governor  of  Canada,  was  the  bug- 
bear of  the  New  York  colonists  and  he,  indeed, 
was  ever  alert  and  aggressive  and  impatient  of  any 
delay  that  kept  him  from  his  plans  of  conquest. 


UNDER    THE   ROYAL    GOVERNORS.  $$ 

For  nearly  twenty  years  after  the  death  of  Leis- 
ler  the  governors  sent  by  the  English  King  to 
direct  the  affairs  of  New  York  were  of  the  worst 
possible  stamp.  Their  very  greed  and  incompe- 
tency however  only  served  to  strengthen  the  grow- 
ing desire  of  the  people  toward  self-government. 
Sloughter  and  Ingolsby,  Fletcher  and  Bellomont, 
Nanfan,  Cornbury  and  Lovelace  —  not  one  of  these 
during  his  brief  and  profitless  lease  of  authority 
seems  to  have  been  possessed  of  any  desire  beyond 
self  or  to  have  known  any  interest  save  his  own. 

The  "general  assembly"  which  King  James  had 
abolished  was  again  submitted  to  by  King  William, 
but  its  powers  and  authority  were  limited.  The 
"  Governor's  Council "  was  selected  by  royal  ap- 
pointment and  had  little  in  sympathy  with  the  peo- 
ple, whom  it  seldom  represented.  Assembly  and 
council,  governors  and  people  were  in  continual  op- 
position and,  frequently,  in  outspoken  antagonism. 

It  was  during  this  time  that  sorrow  came  to  the 
household  of  Teunis  Jansen.  One  of  his  grand- 
sons  "  went  wrong."  A  bright  young  fellow  and  a 
lover  of  the  sea,  young  Abram  Jansen  shipped  for 
a  sailor  and  made  numerous  voyages  with  one 
Captain  William  Kidd,  a  New  York  sea-captain  who 
had  a  pleasant  house  on  Liberty  Street  and  who  for 
years  had  sailed  a  packet  ship  between  New  York 
and    London.      Captain   Kidd    had  taken   a    fancy 


84  UNDER    THE   ROYAL    GOVERNORS. 

to  young  Abram  Jansen  and  given  him  a  berth 
on  his  packet.  But  suddenly,  one  August  day  in 
1698,  dark  rumors  came  to  New  York.  Captain 
Kidd  though  sent  aboard  to  stamp  out  piracy 
had  himself  turned  pirate.  He  had  raised  the 
black  flag  and,  using  the  very  ship  which  the  Gov- 
ernment had  given  him,  he  "swept  the  seas  with 
little  regard  to  the  laws  of  property,"  and  "made 
his  name  a  terror  to  honest  merchantmen."  Abram 
Jansen  followed  his  captain's  lead  and  was  killed 
in  a  desperate  sea-fight  in  East  Indian  waters. 
Kidd  himself  was  at  last  captured,  tried  for  piracy, 
found  guilty  and  executed,  May  10,  1701,*  and  the 
presumed  connection  with  his  illegal  traffic  which 
was  charged  against  leading  citizens  of  New  York 
even  including  its  governor,  Bellomont,  was  for 
years  a  scandal  and  a  stain  on  the  good  name  of 
the  colony.  But  nowhere  did  the  stain  fall  deeper 
or  more  grievously  than  upon  the  little  houses  on 
the  Winckel  Street  and  in  the  Clover  Pasture  where 
grandparents  and  parents  mourned  the  lapse  of  their 
dearly-loved  sailor  lad  into  wicked  and  fatal  ways. 

With  the  coming  of  Governor  Robert  Hunter  in 
June,  1 7 10,  brighter  days  seemed  to  dawn  on  the 
slowly  growing  colony.  Trade  and  colonization 
both  increased  under  his  intelligent  direction  of 
affairs.      In  1  71 1,  three  thousand  German  refugees, 

*  Recent  investigations  throw  much  doubt  on  the  criminality  of  this  celebrated  sea-rover. 
"  Id  (1. iv,"  snys  Mr.  Fernow,  "  that  which  was  meted  out  to  Kidd  might  hardly  be  called  jus- 
lice;   for  it  seems  questionable  if  he  had  ever  been  guilty  of  piracy." 


UNDER    THE  ROYAL    GOVERNORS.  85 

flying  from  the  anguish  and  starvation  of  the 
"  Thirty  Years  War,"  emigrated  in  a  body  to  New 
York  and  locating  first  on  the  lands  of  the  Living- 
ston Manor  on  the  Hudson  finally  procured  lands 
of  the  Indians  in  the  Mohawk  Valley  and  helped 
to  build  up  that  fertile  and  beautiful  section.  Pala- 
tine Bridge  and  German  Flats  still  carry  in  their 
present  names  the  memory  of  these  war-worried 
refugees  from  the  disturbed  "  Palatinate." 

The  development  and  growth  of  a  people  must 
be  by  slow  stages  so  long  as  the  development  is 
hampered  and  the  growth  hindered  by  the  arro- 
gance, the  interference  or  the  indifference  of  a  pa- 
rent government  far  away.  The  British  governors 
were  but  the  representatives  of  their  government 
three  thousand  miles  across  a  stormy  and  treacher- 
ous ocean.  Commerce  grew  slowly  and  trade  was 
impeded  by  the  indisposition  of  the  home  govern- 
ment to  allow  its  colonies  to  attend  to  their  own 
business  in  their  own  way.  But  as  desire  grew  so 
did  determination,  and  it  was  but  a  sign  of  the 
sturdy  and  strengthening  progress  of  the  popular 
will  to  find  the  New  York  Assembly  declaring  in 
171 1  that  it  was  its  "  inherent  right"  as  the  rep- 
resentatives of  the  colony  "  to  act  not  from  the 
grant  of  the  crown,  but  from  the  free  choice  of  the 
people,  who  ought  not,  nor  justly  can  be  divested 
of    their    property   without    their    consent."     This 


86  UNDER    THE  ROYAL    GOVERNORS. 

determination  grew  with  each  new  year,  and  though 
it  was  sternly  repressed  by  the  powers  across  the 
sea  as  tending  too  much  "  to  independency  of 
the  crown  "  neither  king  nor  governor,  council  nor 
"  Lords  of  Trade "  could  long  hold  in  check  the 
actions  of  a  people  feeling  their  way  toward  liberty. 
The  fifteen  royal  governors  who  ruled  the  pro- 
vince during  the  three  quarters  of  a  century  that 
intervened  between  the  year  1 700  and  the  Revolu- 
tion spent  a  large  portion  of  their  time  in  combat- 
ing this  very  "  spirit  of  independency "  that  their 
masters  in  England  denounced.  They  did  little 
for  the  real  interests  of  the  colony,  and  their  names 
are  almost  as  entirely  forgotten  as  are  their  doings 
and  their  acts.  The  growth  of  New  York,  slow 
as  it  was,  proceeded  entirely  from  the  labors  of 
the  people  and  the  energetic  work  of  such  patri- 
otic colonists  as  Peter  Schuyler  of  Albany,  Robert 
Livingston  of  Livingston  Manor,  Lewis  Morris 
of  Morrisania,  Zenger  the  earliest  of  New  York 
"  journalists,"  Rip  Van  Dam  the  merchant,  Cad- 
wallader  Colden,  the  physician,  scholar  and  scien- 
tist, William  Johnson  the  Mohawk  trader,  James 
De  Lancey  the  brilliant  lawyer,  Frederick  Phillipse 
the  Westchester  patroon,  Andrew  Hamilton,  the 
advocate  —  "champion  of  the  oppressed/' — and 
others  of  equal  energy  if  of  less  personal  promi- 
nence.      Some  of  these   men  were  opposed   to  the 


UNDER    THE  ROYAL    GOVERNORS.  8 J 

people  when  the  struggle  for  national  liberty  came 
to  the  issue  of  battle,  but  none  the  less  should  their 
labors  be  gratefully  recognized  by  those  who  to-day 
are  proud  of  the  strength  and  the  glory  of  the 
Empire  State. 

Father  and  son,  Teunis  Jansen  and  Teunis  the 
younger,  were  a  part  of  this  slowly  advancing 
march  of  the  people.  The  lad  who  in  1657  had, 
with  so  many  hopes  and  so  much  wondering,  first 
viewed  from  the  deck  of  the  Gilded  Beaver  the 
little  town  with  its  fort,  its  church  and  its  few 
straggling  houses,  had  grown  into  its  life  and  its 
ambitions  with  the  other  unknown  and  silent 
workers  who  like  him  had  helped  on  the  growth  of 
the  struggling  town  and  the  far-reaching  border 
province.  After  all  it  is  the  quiet  majority  of 
whom  little  is  known  beyond  their  own  home 
circles,  who  render  the  prominence  and  power  of 
the  minority  possible,  and  when  in  171 7  Teunis, 
the  emigrant  of  1657,  now  an  old  man  of  eighty, 
died  in  his  little  house  in  the  Winckel  Street  few 
outside  his  limited  circle  of  acquaintances  and 
fellow  workers  noted  his  departure  or  recognized 
the  value  of  such  humble  workers  as  was  he  upon 
the  real  foundations  of  a  mighty  nation.  His 
son  Teunis  died  in  1744.  The  "Clover  Pastures" 
had  become  a  part  of  the  city's  slowly  extending 
streets  and  he,  too,  like  his  father  though   only  a 


88  UNDER    THE  ROYAL    GOVERNORS. 

hard-working  ship  carpenter  had  still  lived  himself 
into  the  demands  and  the  power  of  the  colony  of 
which  he  seemed  only  a  humble  but  no  less  helpful 
part.  Another  Teunis  took  up  his  father's  work 
and  joined  like  him  in  the  advancing  march  of 
public  opinion  that  was  compelling  governors  and 
councils  to  recognize  and  combat  the  cause  of 
popular  liberty. 

Gradually  the  settlements  were  encroaching  upon 
the  wilderness.  Agriculture  and  commerce  were 
reclaiming  more  and  more  of  the  forest  lands  and 
building  up  the  traffic  of  sea  and  river  and  dusty 
highway.  The  colony  increased  in  population  to 
nearly  one  hundred  thousand  in  1756.  Its  outly- 
ing possessions  in  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts 
and  far-off  Pemaquid  in  Maine  had  long  since 
been  given  up  to  the  sister  colonies  to  whom  they 
more  naturally  belonged,  but  its  trading  posts  were 
growing  into  towns  and  around  its  frontier  forts 
and  block  houses  new  settlements  were  constantly 
springing  up. 

Wars  and  rumors  of  wars  still  disturbed  its 
peace  and  often  paralyzed  its  industries.  In  171 1 
Leisler's  bold  plan  of  weakening  the  French  power 
in  America  by  an  English  invasion  of  Canada  was 
advocated  by  Peter  Schuyler  and  agreed  to  by  the 
home  government.  Twenty-five  hundred  New  York 
men,   including  volunteers  from   Connecticut    and 


UNDER    THE  ROYAL    GOVERNORS.  9 1 

an  Indian  contingent  of  eight  hundred  Iroquois 
gathered  on  Lake  Champlain,  while  five  thousand 
English  troops  sailed  from  Boston.  But  the  inva- 
sion proved  but  an  ill-starred  expedition.  Misman- 
agement, shipwreck  and  timidity  drove  back  the 
Boston  forces  and  the  rank  and  file  of  the  little 
New  York  army  returned  to  their  homes  with  no 
result  reached  save  the  opening  of  the  northern 
frontiers  to  the  old  story  of  surprise  and  massacre. 
Little  actual  war,  however,  occurred  during  the 
first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  and,  save  for  the 
ever-constant  terror  of  French  and  Indian  incursion 
there  need  have  been  no  bar  to  a  healthy  growth  of 
the  colony  had  the  royal  governors  been  governors 
in  fact.  Home  disturbances,  however,  are  often  as 
detrimental  to  development  as  actual  warfare,  and 
the  colony  experienced  all  the  horrors  of  antici- 
pated bloodshed  during  the  foolish  "  negro  insur- 
rection "of  1  712  and  the  still  graver  "  negro  plot  " 
of  1  745  —  both  of  them,  in  their  way,  the  first  pro- 
phetic mutterings  of  the  final  downfall  of  African 
slavery.  Albany,  which  had  received  two  tremen- 
dous frights  from  the  near  approach  of  French  and 
Indian  war-parties  in  1693  and  T^9^  could  seldom 
feel  entirely  secure,  and  the  massacre  at  Saratoga 
in  1745  gave  good  cause  for  this  feeling  of  uneasi- 
ness. In  fact  until  the  capture  of  Louisburg  by  the 
forces  of  the  colonies  in  1744  and  the  final  conquest 


92  UNDER    THE  ROYAL    GOVERNORS. 

of  Canada  by  the  English  in  1759  the  northern 
frontier  of  New  York  was  either  an  anticipated  or 
an  actual  battleground.  The  border  settlements 
were  in  continual  danger.  Block  houses  and  rude 
forts  sprung  up  for  frontier  defences  from  Albany 
and  Lake  Champlain  westward  as  far  as  Oswego, 
while  even  within  sound  of  the  ceaseless  thunders 
of  Niagara  the  strife  for  possession  increased  the 
natural  jealousies  of  race  divisions. 

And  still,  in  spite  of  wars  and  rumors  of  wars, 
life  in  the  slowly-growing  Dutch-English  colony 
went  on  quietly  enough.  There  were  marryings 
and  givings  in  marriage,  there  were  christenings 
and  betrothals,  there  were  schoolings  and  'prentic- 
ings,  winnings  and  losings,  household  hopes  and 
sorrows,  joys  and  fears,  as  well  in  the  manor-house 
of  the  patroon  and  the  mansion  of  the  "  aristocrat " 
as  in  the  "  bouwerie  "  of  the  farmer  and  the  squat 
little  town-house  of  just  such  commonplace  people 
as  were  these  Jansens  of  New  York. 

The  family  was  growing  numerous  now.  Sons 
and  daughters,  grandchildren  and  great-grand- 
children were  finding  and  founding  homes  of  their 
own,  names  were  changing  and  interchanging  and 
all  the  puzzling  intricacies  of  Dutch  relationships 
were  scattering  the  descendants  of  Teunis  Jansen 
throughout  the  little  colony.  The  girls  were  farm- 
ers' wives    or   burghers'   kl  goode  vrouws,"   carding 


UNDER    THE   ROYAL    GOVERNORS.  93 

and  spinning,  sweeping  and  dusting,  hoarding  up 
linen  for  their  own  daughters'  wedding  days  and 
bringing  up  their  girls  and  boys  to  steady,  hard- 
working, little-expecting,  God-fearing  lives.  The 
boys  were  getting  footholds  at  home  or  abroad  — 
the  more  adventurous  or  ambitious  ones  pushing 
out,  spite  of  the  terror  of  the  Indian  arrow  and  the 
dread  of  the  French  harquebuse,  into  the  fertile 
farmlands  to  the  North  and  West.  A  Jansen 
was  fur-trading  at  Oswego,  selling  duffel  cloth  at 
Albany,  farming  near  old  Fort  Stanwix  (now 
Rome),  fighting  for  the  king  at  Crown  Point  and  at 
Niagara,  placidly  counting  his  sheaves  at  Esopus, 
setting  his  traps  in  the  lake  country,  or  trafficking 
with  the  Indians  in  the  company  of  the  ten  young 
men  who,  in  1720,  penetrated  into  the  very  heart  of 
the  Indian  country  with  young  Philip  Schuyler,  or 
with  the  forty  who,  later  still,  made  their  homes 
among  the  friendly  Iroquois,  pioneers  of  the  civ- 
ilization that  was  soon  to  follow  after  them. 

For,  in  the  face  of  hardship  and  obstacles,  in 
spite  of  the  dangers  at  home  and  the  disastrous 
policy  of  the  English  rulers  the  trade  of  the  New 
York  colony  was  steadily  and  strongly  increasing. 
Ship-building  and  the  saw-mill  industries  gave  oc- 
cupation to  many  workers  ;  glass-making  in  New 
York  and  crude  iron-working  along  the  Hudson ; 
pearlash  and  potash,  silks  and  naval  stores,   brick 


94  UNDER    THE   ROYAL    GOVERNORS. 

kilns  near  Esopus,  salt-works  on  Coney  Island, 
homespuns  and  woollens  among  the  "  Palatinate," 
hat-making  in  Albany  and  New  York  —  these  and 
other  branches  of  manufacture  grew  steadily  in 
spite  of  governmental  ban,  and  in  1770  Governor 
Moore  declared  that  throughout  the  colony  "every 
house  swarms  with  children,  who  are  set  to  work 
as  soon  as  they  are  able  to  spin  and  card ;  and,  as 
every  family  is  furnished  with  a  loom,  the  itiner- 
ant weavers  who  travel  about  the  country  put  the 
finishing  hand  to  the  work." 

Commerce,  too,  grew  with  the  home  industries. 
So  much  in  the  line  of  supplies  was,  by  govern- 
ment orders,  forced  to  be  imported  into  the  prov- 
ince that  the  fleet  of  merchant  ships  engaged  in 
the  European  and  West  Indian  trade  became  larger 
every  year.  In  1749  New  York  had  over  one 
hundred  and  fifty  ships  engaged  in  the  carrying 
trade.  Already  was  the  city  by  the  sea  becoming 
the  commercial  metropolis  of  America. 

There  are  drones  in  every  hive.  Not  alone  the 
fat  and  pampered  ones  who  live  upon  the  accumu- 
lations of  the  workers,  but  the  lean  and  hungry 
ones  who  grumble  over  the  little  they  possess  and 
seek  to  accumulate  by  disturbance  and  aggres- 
sion rather  than  by  honest,  helpful  labor.  So 
cosmopolitan  a  town  as  New  York,  contributed 
to  by  so   many  nationalities  with    all    their  natural 


UNDER    THE   ROYAL    GOVERNORS.  95 

antagonisms,  jealousies  and  desires,  would  of  ne- 
cessity be  more  given  to  restlessness  than  would 
a  less  heterogeneous  colony.  We  must  always 
distinguish  between  the  people  and  the  rabble. 

It  was  the  rabble  who  believed  in  and  fomented 
all  the  superstition  and  cruelty  of  the  Popish  scare 
and  of  the  negro  plot ;  it  was  the  people  who  lifted 
the  Heer  Leisler  to  power,  who  applauded  the  tri- 
umph of  Zenger  the  journalist  over  the  tyrannies 
of  a  narrow-minded  government,  and  stood  man- 
fully by  Rip  Van  Dam  when  he  dared  assert  the 
rights  and  prerogatives  of  the  colony  which  they, 
the  people,  had  developed  and  rebuilt. 

It  was  the  people,  too,  who,  schooled  by  hard 
experience  and  ceaseless  labor  into  a  spirit  of 
independency,  gradually  developed  the  manhood 
to  assert  and  the  determination  to  rule  that  led  to 
revolt  against  a  selfish  and  grasping  despotism 
and  made,  finally,  the  successful  experiment  of  self- 
government  and  popular  sovereignty. 

"These  colonists,"  wrote  Governor  Hunter  in 
171 1,  "are  infants  at  their  mother's  breast,  but  such 
as  will  wean  themselves  when  they  become  of  age." 
They  become  of  age  quicker  than  even  the  most 
far-seeing  of  English  statesmen  could  imagine,  and 
the  struggle  for  popular  rights  which  began  even 
during  the  administrations  of  Governor  Hunter's 
immediate  successors,  the  frivolous   Burnet  and  the 


g6        under  the  royal  governors. 

tyrannical  Cosby  ended  only  in  the  turmoil  and 
bloodshed  of  the  American  Revolution. 

The  colonial  assembly,  the  nearest  approach  to  a 
direct  representation  of  the  people,  grew  gradually 
more  and  more  assertive.  The  assembly  of  .  1737 
in  its  address  to  Governor  Clarke  boldly  declared 
the  right  of  the  people  to  be  "  protected  in  the 
enjoyment  of  their  liberties  and  properties  "  and 
announced  its  determination  not  to  vote  a  penny 
of  revenue  or  support  "  until  such  laws  are  passed 
as  we  conceive  necessary  for  the  safety  of  the  in- 
habitants of  this  colony,  who  have  reposed  a  trust 
in  us  for  that  only  purpose,  and  by  the  grace  of 
God  we  will  endeavor  not  to  deceive  them." 

But  England  learned  nothing  from  declaration 
and  protest.  The  colonies  were  a  source  of  pro- 
fitable trading  and  of  growing  returns,  and  any 
concessions  to  the  people  which  involved  a  lessen- 
ing of  profits  and  returns  was  not  to  be  thought  of 
by  the  parent  government.  The  Stamp  Act,  the 
navigation  laws  and  the  imposition  of  duties  grew 
out  of  this  determination  to  use  the  colonies  as  a 
treasure  house,  and  acts  of  restriction  and  of  petty 
tyranny  increased  the  discontent  which  finally  burst 
into  an  uncontrollable  blaze. 

Discontent  while  it  often  stirs  to  noblest  action 
arouses  also  the  basest  elements.  While  it  leads 
the  people  to  armed  protest  it  as  surely  impels  the 


UNDER    THE   ROYAL    GOVERNORS.  97 

rabble  to  unreasoning  violence.  Mobs  and  riots  as 
well  as  assemblies  and  revolts  spring  from  the  same 
source  of  popular  irritation. 

It  must  be  said  of  ancestral  New  York  that  its 
manners  were  not  always  cf  that  standard  of  cor- 
rectness that  we,  in  these  later  days,  have  set  up 
though  we  do  not  always  follow  it.  The  same  is  in 
a  measure  true  of  all  the  American  colonies,  but 
within  the  borders  of  New  York,  especially,  the 
same  mixed  elements  that  constituted  its  society 
were  at  once  its  safety  and  its  peril.  We  are  too 
prone  to  consider  what  we  unthinkingly  call  the 
"  good  old  days "  as  being  all  that  is  noble  and 
heroic  when,  indeed,  the  opposite  is  much  nearer 
the  truth.  Perfection  only  comes  with  years  and 
progress. 

And  so,  as  we  study  the  records  we  are  forced 
to  admit  the  existence,  in  an  even  more  aggravated 
form,  of  the  very  evils  that  we  of  this  day  are  too 
apt  to  consider  as  the  outcome  of  our  own  restless 
desires  and  life. 

Peculation  and  embezzlement  were  openly 
charged  and  far  too  frequently  proven  against 
officials,  merchants  and  men  of  eminent  stand- 
ing. Land  frauds,  Indian  frauds,  commercial 
frauds,  false  returns  and  even  falser  methods, 
illicit  trading,  smuggling  and  piracy —  these  were 
matters  of  common    report,  while    the    prevalence 


98  UXDER    THE   ROYAL    GOVERNORS. 

of    drunkenness  and  other  social  evils   were   both 
a  barrier  and  a  reaction  to  entire  development. 

Even  in  Stuyvesant's  day  it  is  reported  that  fully 
one  fourth  of  the  houses  in  New  Amsterdam  were 
devoted  to  the  sale  of  brandy,  tobacco  and  beer, 
and  as  Mr.  Roberts  observes,  "  their  existence  tells 
the  story  of  the  habits  of  the  people."  Chaplain 
Miller  in  1695  says  that  "so  soon  as  the  bounty  of 
God  has  furnished  this  people  with  a  plentiful  crop, 
they  do  turn  the  money  into  drink,"  and  through- 
out the  colonial  days  the  jealousies  between  the 
"  aristocrats  "  and  the  people  were  too  often  aggra- 
vated by  the  wide-spread  use  of  rum.  It  was  when 
Governor  Sloughter  was  "  besotted  with  drink " 
that  he  signed  the  illegal  death-warrant  of  Leisler ; 
it  was  when  the  informer  Kane  was  possessed  by 
the  "  fumes  of  the  liquor  of  the  tavern  "  that  he 
foisted  upon  the  terrified  colonists  the  lying  details 
of  the  shameful  "  negro  plot  " ;  it  was  when  the 
representative  of  the  most  powerful  family  in  the 
province  —  Chief  Justice  DeLancey  —  and  Gov- 
ernor George  Clinton,  the  proxy  of  the  king,  were 
"  in  their  cups  "  that  a  personal  quarrel  led  to 
antagonisms  that  threatened  the  welfare  of  the 
colony.  Indeed  the  deep  hold  that  this  vice  had 
upon  the  morals  of  the  entire  colony  seemed  to 
repeat  and  emphasize  the  wisdom  of  the  name 
which  the    earlier  Spanish-Indian   intercourse  had 


UNDER    THE   ROYAL    GOVERNORS.  99 

fastened  upon  its  leading  town  —  Monados,  "  the 
place  of  drunken  men." 

But  customs  that  now  seem  disgraceful  were  then 
esteemed  essential,  and  it  was  in  spite  of  this  curse 
of  drink  and  its  kindred  evils  that  so  mixed  a 
commonalty  as  Colonial  New  York  grew  into  and 
nurtured  that  high-placed  spirit  of  independency 
that  was  slowly  but  surely  leading  the  people  toward 
freedom,  democracy  and  the  upbuilding  of  a  nation. 

The  border  warfare  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  years 
that  ended  only  with  England's  historic  victory 
upon  the  Plains  of  Abraham  ;  the  constant  boun- 
dary troubles  that  England's  needless  delays  fast- 
ened upon  the  settlers  in  New  York  and  their 
adjoining  colonial  neighbors ;  even  the  party  hates 
and  personal  rancors  of  family  jealousies  and  the 
sharply-drawn  lines  between  "  aristocrats  "  and  com- 
mons, Episcopalians  and  Presbyterians,  all  had  a 
certain  good  effect  in  the  resolution  and  determin- 
ation that  they  engendered,  and  by  means  of  which 
liberty  was  to  be  finally  accomplished. 

Out  of  Leisler's  colonial  congress  of  1690,  and 
that  at  Albany  in  1754,  as  well  as  from  the  self- 
respecting  assemblies  that  intervened  and  dared 
to  tell  the  British  government  so  many  plain  and 
unwelcome  truths  came  the  greater  Continental 
Congresses  of  1764  and  1774  and  the  colonial 
resistance  that  broadened  into  national  revolt. 


IOO         UNDER    THE   ROYAL    GOVERNORS. 

With  all  this  growing  desire  for  self-government 
the  people  in  a  great  majority  sympathized.  Their 
home  affairs,  their  daily  labors,  their  merchandise 
and  their  farms  were  still  of  first  importance  to 
them  all,  but  they  realized  nevertheless  that  even 
these  could  not  prosper  if  a  lordly  court  across  the 
water  were  always  to  coerce  and  interfere.  And  so, 
excited  and  aroused  as  people  are  apt  to  be  at  sea- 
sons of  great  national  peril,  young  and  old,  rich 
and  poor,  man  and  woman,  boy  and  girl  clamored 
against  the  tyranny  of  England.  While  the  young 
Teunis  Jansen  of  that  day  joined  the  "  Sons  of 
Liberty "  and  helped  post  up  the  famous  "  We 
Dare  "  placard  upon  office  doors  and  street  corners 
his  youngest  brother,  Ryck  Jansen,  tagged  at  the 
heels  of  the  street  crowds  that  wandered  from  point 
to  point  on  that  historic  First  of  November,  1765, 
and  sung  out  as  lustily  and  as  unmusically  as  any 
one  of  them  the  ringing  chorus  : 

"  With  the  beasts  of  the  wood, 

We  will  ramble  for  food, 
And  lodge  in  wild  deserts  and  caves, 

And  live  poor  as  Job, 

On  the  skirts  of  the  globe 
Before  we'll  submit  to  be  slaves,  brave  boys, 
Before  we'll  submit  to  be  slaves." 


CHAPTER   V. 


A     COLONIAL     BARON 


NTO  that  section  of 
the  province  of  New 
York  beyond  the 
Couxsachraga  wilder- 
ness, now  known  as 
the  Valley  of  the  Mo- 
hawk, but  known  to 
those  days  simply  as 
"the  Indian  country  " 
there  came  one  spring 
day  in  the  year  1738 
a  young  Irish  lad  — 
William  Johnson  of  Warrentown,  in  the  County 
Down.  Scarcely  more  than  twenty  years  old,  of 
a  well-built  and  commanding  figure,  fearless,  cau- 
tious, industrious,  brave  and  shrewd,  possessing 
especially  a  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body,  and  a 
manner  that  won  for  him  at  once  the  confidence 
and  popularity  of  his  fellows,  this  enterprising 
young  Irishman  stamped  his  name  and  his  per- 
sonality upon   the   region   now  known   as   Central 


102  A    COLOXIAL    BAR  OX. 

New  York,  as  neither  royal  governor  nor  colonial 
magnate  was  able  to  do.  His  story  is  one  of  the 
most  striking  as  it  is  one  of  the  most  important 
phases  in  the  history  of  the  beginnings  and  the 
development  of  the  Empire  State;  and  it  is  pe- 
culiarly fitting  for  us  to  consider  it  here,  ere  we 
proceed  with  that  later  section  of  the  story  of 
the  state  in  whose  beginnings  this  young  Irish 
adventurer  bore  so  prominent  a  part. 

Young  William  Johnson  came  as  factor  or  super- 
intendent for  his  maternal  uncle  Sir  Peter  Warren, 
the  English  admiral,  who,  following  the  example 
of  other  English  nabobs  had  purchased  from  the 
Indians  a  large  tract  of  fertile  country  within  the 
limits  of  the   Mohawk  Valley. 

The  section  was  alike  historic,  picturesque  and 
full  of  singular  interest.  For  us  the  pen  of  Cooper 
has  described  and  painted  its  beauties,  its  romances 
and  its  stirring  scenes.  But  its  history  is  even 
stranger  than  its  fiction,  and  as  the  prelude  to 
its  later  story  possesses  a  singular  and  especial 
interest. 

Beyond  the  Schenectady  wilderness  and  west- 
ward a  good  clay's  journey  from  the  rude  fortress 
walls  of  Albany  stretched  in  the  earlier  clays  a 
tract  of  country  into  which  for  years  only  trappers 
and  traders  had  dared  to  penetrate  and  which,  even 
in   the   middle  of  the   eighteenth  century,  was  still 


A    COLONIAL   BARON.  1 03 

an  unknown  and  almost  unexplored  region  to  the 
settlers  about  Manhattan  Island  and  along  the 
shores  of  the   Hudson. 

And  yet,  though  known  only  to  the  most  advent- 
urous and  most  restless  of  the  colonists  of  the 
New  World  it  was  for  years  the  battle  ground  of 
two  nations.  Fertile,  promising,  and  rich  in  furs 
and  peltries,  bounded  on  the  north  by  vast  inland 
seas  and  watered  by  beautiful  streams  and  still 
more  beautiful  lakes,  this  section,  known  as  "  the 
Indian  country,"  was  so  attractive  a  land  for  trade 
and  settlement  that  with  each  new  year,  while 
France  and  England  were  both  struggling  to  pos- 
sess it,  the  pioneers  of  colonization  were  venturing 
into  it  under  the  protection  of  the  colonial  gover- 
nors of  New  York  and  the  colonial  "  barons  "  who 
were  monopolizing  its  possession  by  direct  purchase 
from  its  Indian  proprietors. 

For  nearly  three  hundred  years  this  splendid 
stretch  of  country  had  been  the  seat  of  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  barbaric  confederacies  that 
the  world  has  known.  The  six  nations  of  Indians, 
best  known  by  the  French  name  of  Iroquois, 
though  called  by  themselves,  always,  the  Hodeno- 
saunee  or  "  people  of  the  long  house,''  lived  here  as 
citizens  of  an  unvincible  forest  republic.  Ambi- 
tious, warlike,  haughty  and  free  they  had  risen  to  a 
station  in  the  rank  of  semi-civilization  quite  above 


104  A    COLOXIAL   BARON. 

that  of  any  other  Indian  nation  and  their  authority 
and  mastership  were  acknowledged  by  the  sur- 
rounding tribes  from  the  rivers  of  Virginia  to  the 
shores  of  Hudson's  Bay  and  from  the  New  Eng- 
land coast  to  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi. 

The  statesmanship  of  Arendt  Van  Curler  se- 
cured their  friendship  in  the  early  Dutch  days  ;  and, 
because  of  this,  his  Dutch  and  English  successors 
in  the  provinces  were,  until  the  Revolution,  able 
to  maintain  their  possession  of  the  entire  lake 
region.  It  was  the  constant  loyalty  of  the  Iroquois 
confederacy  to  the  British  king  that  enabled  Eng- 
land finally  to  become  master  of  Canada,  and  it 
was  upon  lands  purchased  from  them  that  the 
slowly  growing  settlements  of  English  colonists 
began  gradually  to  build  and  develop  the  now 
thriving  home-land  of  Central  New  York. 

The  most  easterly  of  the  Six  Nations  was  the 
tribe  known  as  the  Mohawks.  Their  lands  com- 
prised that  section  now  celebrated  as  the  beautiful 
valley  of  the  Mohawk,  and  they  were  regarded  as 
the  real  head  —  the  brain  and  leaders  of  the  Iro- 
quois Confederacy. 

The  settlements  of  the  white  man  gradually 
increased  in  their  land,  but  so  cautiously  and 
craftily  was  this  advance  made  and  guarded  that 
the  Indian  still  remained  the  white  man's  friend, 
even    though    he    saw    and    appreciated    the    slow 


A    COLONIAL   BARON.  105 

absorption  of  his  home-land.  That  so  brave  and 
dominant  a  race  impatient  of  control  and  ambi- 
tious for  authority  should  permit  themselves  to 
be  thus  pushed  and  crowded  from  their  lands 
would  be  one  of  the  problems  of  history  could  it 
not  be  explained  by  two  important  causes  —  the 
white  man's  craftiness  and  the  white  man's  rum. 
Against  these  the  Indians  of  America  were  never 
able  successfully  to  contend. 

Many  a  young  man  from  the  older  settlements 
went  from  his  home  to  seek  his  fortune  in  the  Iro- 
quois country.  Dutch  patroons  and  English  land- 
owners began  to  lease,  sell,  and  cultivate  the  great 
tracts  of  land  they  had  secured  from  the  Indian 
proprietors,  and  one  day  in  the  year  1763  young 
Isaac  Jansen,  the  youngest  brother  of  Teunis  the 
elder,  then  scarce  twenty  years  of  age,  announced 
to  his  eldest  brother,  who  was  recognized  as  the 
head  of  the  family,  his  intention  of  trying  his  luck 
in  the  Iroquois  country. 

It  was  of  no  use  for  Teunis  the  elder  to  object. 
The  Jansens  had  ever  possessed  the  roving  strain 
in  their  blood  from  the  days  of  their  sea-faring  and 
fur-trading  ancestors  of  three  centuries  back. 

"  Well,  what  are  your  chances,  lad  ?  "  he  de- 
manded of  this  would-be  pioneeer. 

And  young  Isaac  told  how  one  of  the  Van  Ness 
boys  had  an  engagement  to  go  as   farrier  to    Sir 


106  A    COLONIAL   BARON. 

William  Johnson's  "  castle  "  in  the  Mohawk  Valley 
and  how,  too,  young  Van  Ness  had  been  able  to  get 
for  him  (Isaac)  the  promise  of  steady  work  at  his 
trade  of  carpentering  in  the  patroon's  new  settle- 
ment of  Johnstown. 

"  Go  then,  lad,  and  the  Lord  be  with  you,"  said 
the  elder  brother  when  Isaac  had  detailed  his 
expectations.  "  You  won't  be  the  first  J  arisen  who 
has  struck  out  into  the  wilderness."  And  adding 
to  his  brother's  slender  outfit  a  share  of  his  own 
hardly-earned  shillings  Teunis  bade  young  Isaac 
God-speed  and  together  the  two  adventurous  lads 
set  their  backs  to  their  native  town  and  their  faces 
toward   their  fortune. 

To  both  these  young  fellows  as  to  many  another 
restless  lad  in  the  colony,  had  come  frequent  rumors 
of  this  most  fascinating  and  enticing  of  all  the 
"  patroons  "  —  Sir  William  Johnson  :  how  he  had 
risen  from  a  mere  lad  to  a  power  greater  than 
that  of  many  a  lord  and  baron  across  the  water ; 
how  he  lived  in  a  stone  castle  in  the  midst  of 
surroundings  calculated  to  drive  an  adventurous 
boy  frantic  with  emulation  ;  they  had  heard  and 
repeated  the  wonderful  accounts  of  Sir  William's 
vast  estate  ;  of  his  loyal  and  successful  tenantry  ; 
of  his  army  of  scouts  and  trappers,  of  hunters  and 
rangers  ;  of  his  thousands  of  Indian  allies  and 
how  he    had    been    made    the    great   White    Chief 


ISAAC    JANSEN    GOES    TO    THE    INDIAN    COUNTRY. 


A    COLONIAL   BARON.  109 

of  the  Iroquois  nations.  All  these  and  many 
other  reports  they  had  heard  —  some  of  them 
exaggerated  and  fabulous,  but  unquestioningly  ac- 
cepted as  fact  by  the  ambitious  boys  who  chafed 
under  home  restraints  and  longed  for  the  free, 
unfettered  life  of  the  forest  and  the  rivers  of 
this  wonderful   Indian  country. 

And  to  a  certain  extent  the  stories  that  had 
floated  down  the  Hudson  from  the  Mohawk  coun- 
try were  true.  The  Irish  lad  of  1738  had  within 
less  than  twenty-five  years  become  a  great  feudul 
baron  of  colonial  New  York.  Succeeding  even 
beyond  his  own  expectations  as  his  uncle's  factor 
he  had  purchased  for  his  own  use  extensive  tracts 
in  the  Mohawk  Valley,  had  developed  both  his  own 
and  his  uncle's  estate  to  most  productive  issues, 
had  settled  a  thrifty  tenantry  upon  his  lands,  won 
the  friendship  and  loyalty  of  the  Indian  tribes  into 
whose  lands  he  had  come,  and  because  of  his 
remarkable  success  in  keeping  them  in  friendly 
relations  to  the  English  authorities  had  been  hon- 
ored with  important  offices  and  trusts  by  the  home 
government.  A  fearless  and  impetuous  soldier  he 
had  led  the  provincial  militia  in  some  of  the  fiercest 
battles  of  "  the  French  and  Indian  war,"  and  had 
been  created  by  his  king  "  Major  General  and  Sir  " 
William  Johnson  for  intrepid  and  valuable  services. 
More  than  any  other  man,  in  all  the  long  history  of 


110  A    COLONIAL   BARON. 

the  frontier  troubles  that  ended  at  last  in  the  inva- 
sion of  Canada  and  the  fall  of  Quebec,  he  had  kept 
the  Iroquois  in  alliance  with  England,  successfully 
combating  the  "  diplomacy  "  of  French  statesmen 
and  the  craft  of  French  Jesuits,  and  had  been 
admitted  within  the  circle  of  Indian  tribal  ties  as 
a  comrade  and  a  chieftain  under  the  Mohawk  name 
of  Warra-ghi-yagey  —  the  Great  Brother. 

It  was  into  the  domains  of  this  remarkable  man, 
now  in  the  prime  of  life  and  at  the  height  of  his 
power,  that  young  Isaac  Jansen  and  Abram  Van 
Ness  came  in  the  year  1763.  Isaac  came  as  car- 
penter and  laborer,  but  more  stirring  work  than 
building  cabins  and  framing  doors  and  windows 
was  in  store  for  him. 

The  war  with  the  Indians,  roused  to  indignant 
and  murderous  protest  by  their  greatest  patriot  — 
Pontiac,  Chief  of  the  Ottawas  —  was  raging  with 
fury  along  the  western  border,  and  almost  the  first 
experience  that  young  Isaac  Jansen  met  with  in 
his  new  home  was  to  help  build  the  strong  stockade 
with  which  Sir  William  surrounded  Johnson  Hall, 
and  to  arm  with  the  other  tenantry  of  the  pro- 
vincial baronet  for  its  protection  and  defence.  The 
stromr  stone  towers  that  flanked  this  stockade  and 
the  brass  cannon  that  defended  them  (captured 
by  Admiral  Warren  at  the  siege  of  Louisburg) 
proved    a    stronger    argument    with    the    wavering 


A    COLONIAL   BARON.  I  I  I 

Iroquois  than  did  Pontiac's  appeals.  The  North- 
ern tribes  who  had  been  almost  persuaded  to  join 
the  Ottawa  Chieftain  declared  their  determination 
not  to  "take  up  the  hatchet,"  but  at  the  same 
time  announced  their  readiness,  if  Sir  William 
was  molested,  to  take  it  up  valiantly  in  defence 
of  their  Great  "  Brother." 

Sir  William's  shrewdness  and  courage  and  his 
firm  but  friendly  attitude  toward  his  Indian  allies 
alone  saved  New  York  from  the  horrors  of  the 
border  war  that  laid  waste  the  western  frontier  and 
immortalized  the  name  of  Pontiac  —  the  "  Napoleon 
of  the  Indians." 

At  last  the  war  was  over.  Pontiac,  defeated  and 
deserted  by  his  followers,  returned  from  his  inter- 
view with  Sir  William  Johnson  in  1766,  to  die  by 
the  tomahawk  of  a  faithless  Illinois,  and  the  man 
who  had  been  the  main  bulwark  of  New  York 
against  massacre  and  desolation  devoted  himself 
to  the  development  of    his  splendid  estate. 

Once  again,  in  1768,  was  Sir  W7illiam  Johnson's 
great  influence  with  the  Iroquois  needed  to  resist 
disaster.  As  just  in  his  dealings  with  them  as  he 
was  shrewd  and  far-seeing,  he  sided  with  them  in 
the  dispute  over  the  occupation  by  white  settlers 
of  the  great  tract  in  Northern  New  York,  known 
as  the  Kaya-de-ros-seras  patent  —  a  vast  section  of 
valuable  land  obtained  by  fraud   and   occupied  in 


112  A    COLONIAL   BARON. 

spite  of  the  protests  of  its  native  owners.  The 
Iroquois  indignant  at  the  broken  faith  and  arrogant 
claims  of  the  colonial  authorities  threatened  to  take 
up  the  hatchet  in  defence  of  their  rights,  and  had 
not  the  wisdom  of  Sir  William  Johnson  awakened 
the  colonial  "proprietories  "  to  a  sense  of  their  folly 
and  injustice,  and  induced  them  by  the  payment  to 
the  Indians  of  five  thousand  dollars  to  purchase  the 
lands  they  had  stolen,  a  bloodier  chapter  than  any 
yet  known  in  the  story  of  New  York  would  need  to 
have  been  written.  By  this  means  seven  hundred 
thousand  acres  lying  between  the  Hudson  and 
the  Mohawk,  were  opened  to  colonization  and  civ- 
ilization, and  the  name  of  Sir  William  Johnson 
more  than  ever  before  became  the  synonym  of 
justice  among  the  Indians  and  of  influence  among 
the  colonists. 

It  was  by  measures  such  as  this  that  the  fer- 
tile region  of  Central  New  York  was  won  from 
barbarism  and  secured  for  civilization.  Here  and 
there  new  settlements  were  made  and  new  indus- 
tries sprung  up.  Isaac  Jansen,  a  hardy  and  vigo- 
rous young  pioneer,  found  favor  in  the  eyes  of  "  the 
patroon  "  and  had  charge  and  oversight  of  much  of 
the  building  that  the  era  of  peace  brought  about. 

The  "  patroon's  "  own  settlement  of  Johnstown, 
near  to  his  mansion  of  Johnson  Hall,  grew  into  quite 
a  flourishing  village  and  the  estate  itself  increased 


A    COLONIAL  BARON.  I  13 

in  productiveness  and  beauty.  The  wilderness  that 
the  young  Irish  lad  had  found  through  all  the  valley 
of  the  Mohawk,  thirty  years  before,  was  now  a 
region  of  rich  farms,  beautiful  meadows  and  homes 
of  rude  but  genial  plenty.  The  Indians  were  be- 
coming agriculturists  and  steadfastly  resisted  all 
attempts  of  French  or  Spanish  "  diplomats  "  to 
swerve  them  from  their  allegiance  to  the  English 
kins:  and  their  own   "  Great   Brother." 

Thus  the  eve  of  the  Revolution  found  the  region 
known  as  Central  New  York.  The  increase  in 
settlement  was  bringing  a  sturdy  company  of  work- 
ers within  its  limits,  and  even  that  hot  and  bitter 
fued  as  to  boundaries  known  as  the  trouble  of  the 
New  Hampshire  Grants  could  not  stop  the  tide  of 
colonization.  The  county  of  Albany,  upon  petition 
of  its  inhabitants,  was  divided  into  three  new  coun- 
ties and  the  busy  little  village  of  Johnstown  was 
made  the  county  town  of  the  new  county  of  Tryon 
(named  for  the  then  acting  colonial  governor). 

Sir  William  Johnson  was  at  this  time  the  most 
influential  man  in  the  province  of  New  York. 
Beloved  by  his  tenantry,  trusted  by  his  Indian 
neighbors,  honored  by  his  king,  his  influence  was  uni- 
versally acknowledged  and  his  integrity  was  unques- 
tioned. He  was  one  of  the  very  few  American 
baronets.  He  was  the  superintendent  of  the 
Northern  Indians,  a  member  of  the  king's  council, 


114  A    COLONIAL   BARON. 

a  major-general  commanding  a  well-disciplined  force 
of  fourteen  hundred  provincial  militia,  an  owner  of 
large  estates  and  an  energetic  promoter  of  every 
plan  of  public  benefit. 

"  Sir  William  has  too  much  influence,"  declared 
one  rather  pessimistic  patriot  to  Isaac  Jansen  as 
they  talked  of  the  attainments  and  successes  of  the 
patroon.  "  He  can  carry  anything  he  pleases  now. 
He  returns  two  members  to  the  assembly  by  his 
nod,  and  can  direct  the  election  of  the  Albany  and 
Schenectady  members  as  he  pleases." 

"  I  wish  his  influence  were  twice  as  great,"  replied 
the  loyal  Isaac,  always  enthusiastic  in  support  of 
his  generous  patroon  ;  "  for  one  thing  we  are  sure 
of  and  that  is,  'tis  both  his  inclination  and  his 
interest  to  use  all  his  influence  for  the  good  of  the 
province." 

But  the  day  that  was  to  change  all  this  condition 
of  personal  power  was  at  hand.  The  spirit  of  those 
same  "  Sons  of  Liberty  "  who  had  withstood  the 
"hirelings  of  tyranny"  at  Golden  Hill  and  lustily 
shouted  their  revolutionary  choruses  in  the  streets  of 
New  York  found  its  way  even  beyond  the  northern 
wilderness.  The  progress  of  a  free  people  is  antag- 
onistic to  monopolies  —  good  or  bad.  The  demand 
for  liberty  grew,  separation  from  England  was  de- 
creed and  the  Revolution  came.  It  was  to  work 
many  changes  in   private  and  public  life,  but  none 


A    COLONIAL  BARON.  1 17 

more  vital  or  more  decided  than  in  the  region 
about  the  Mohawk.  Some  great  proprietors  like 
the  Livingstons  and  the  patroon  of  Renssalaer  be- 
came ardent  patriots,  others  like  Phillipse  and 
De  Lancey  were  bitter  and  aggressive  tories  and, 
in  many  instances,  as  decided  the  proprietor  so 
decided  many  of  his  tenants ;  but  it  remained  for 
the  "  patroon  of  the  Mohawk,"  Sir  William  John- 
son, to  be  neither  patriot  nor  tory  and  so  to  lose 
alike  his  influence,  his  property  and  his  life. 

He  was  one  of  the  people.  He  had  risen  from 
the  ranks  to  power,  prominence  and  wealth.  He 
had  served  his  king  and  his  country  with  equal 
fidelity  and  ardor,  and  he  stood  on  the  eve  of  the 
great  struggle  a  type  of  others  of  his  class  —  unde- 
cided where  his  duty  lay.  And  yet,  says  his  biog- 
rapher, Mr.  Stone,  "  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
had  he  lived  until  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  take 
a  decided  stand,  he  would  have  boldly  espoused  the 
cause  of  the  colonies." 

But  death  decided  it  for  him.  On  the  twelfth  of 
July,  1774,  in  the  midst  of  an  Indian  council  of  six- 
hundred  Iroquois  gathered  about  his  manor-house  of 
Johnson  Hall  for  the  purposes  of  discussing  griev- 
ances death  found  him,  and  at  sunset  he  expired. 

It  was  a  fitting  close.  It  was  alike  the  sunset  of 
Indian  power  and  of  feudal  forms.  Henceforth  a 
new  order  was    to    rule,  born    of   struggle   and  of 


Il8  A    COLONIAL   BARON. 

progress,  and  destined  to  advance  the  New  World 
from  a  restricted  colonial  appendage  to  a  free  and 
mighty  nation.  But  as  one  who,  slighted  by  histo- 
rians and  misjudged  by  posterity,  gave  to  the  State 
of  New  York  the  possibilities  of  its  freedom,  its 
extent,  its  wonderful  growth  and  its  importance 
in  the  new  nation  the  space  here  accorded  to  the 
work  of  Sir  William  Johnson  is  but  simple  justice 
to  a  great  man  —  the  proprietor,  defender,  colonizer 
and  developer  of  Central  New  York. 

His  work  was  done.  And  with  his  death  fell 
alike  his  power  and  his  influence.  But  history,  im- 
partial and  just,  which  would  give  equal  recognition 
and  approval  to  all  who  help  in  the  advancement  of 
a  State  must  ascribe  in  the  story  of  the  upbuilding 
of  the  Empire  State  credit  alike  to  great  and  small. 
And  while,  therefore,  praise  and  honor  are  due  to 
all  such  humble  workers  as  were  Isaac  Jansen  and 
his  fellows  —  the  men  who  seldom  come  to  the 
surface  —  equal  praise  and  equal  honor  are  to  be 
ascribed  to  that  masterly  and  remarkable  man  who 
by  his  wisdom,  justice,  energy  and  pluck  achieved 
an  honorable  name,  saved  his  home-land  from 
desolation  and  kept  faith  with  all  —  Sir  William 
Johnson,  the  lord  proprietor  of  the  Valley  of  the 
Mohawk. 


CHAPTER   VI. 


LIBERTY. 


_  OUNG  Teunis  Jan- 
sen,  the  sixth  of  the 
name,  was  married 
P"  on  the  twenty-sec- 
ond of  April,  1774, 
to  the  "yonkvrouw" 
Tryntie  Van  Blarcom  of 
the  little  town  of  Breucklen 
across  the  East  River.  He 
always  remembered  his  wed- 
ding day,  because  that  very 
afternoon  he  was  summoned 
as  one  of  the  "  Sons  of  Lib- 
erty "  to  attend  a  "  tea-party  " 
in  the  harbor.  He  really 
did  help  toss  over  the  eighteen  chests  of  tea  which 
Captain  Chambers  had  brought  over  in  the  schooner 
London,  and  to  send  a-packing  back  to  England, 
Captain  Lockyer  of  the  tea-ship  Nancy,  who  had 
dared  act  counter  to  the  will  of  a  determined  and 
now  turbulent  people. 

119 


120  LIBERTY. 

Teunis  still  bore  on  his  leg  the  scar  of  the 
healed-up  bayonet-wound  which  he  received  at  the 
"  Battle  of  Golden  Hill,"  four  years  before,  when, 
on  the  eighteenth  of  January,  1770,  the  citizens  had 
made  the  first  stand  against  the  insolence  of  the 
British  soldiers.  For  upon  that  little  hill  covering 
the  portion  of  what  is  now  John  Street,  between 
Cliff  Street  and  Burling  Slip,  the  first  blood  of  the 
Revolution  was  shed. 

A  year  later  actual  war  began.  The  colonists, 
pushed  to  desperation  by  the  continued  tyranny  of 
England,  met  force  with  force ;  and  on  Sunday  the 
twenty-second  of  April,  1775,  Teunis  was  among 
the  throng  that  coming  out  of  the  Garden  Street 
church  heard  the  news  which  a  hard-riding  courier 
brought  down  the  Bowery  road  and  into  the  little 
city,  how  on  a  pleasant  country  highway,  two  hun- 
dred miles  to  the  eastward,  the  colonists  and  the 
king's  troops  had  met  and  fought  the  historic 
battle  of  Lexington. 

From  that  time  on,  for  the  next  seven  years,  the 
province  of  New  York  bore  the  brunt  of  the  great 
contest  of  right  against  might.  From  Harlem 
Heights  and  Ticonderoga  to  Saratoga  and  Stony 
Point,  from  the  British  occupation  of  1776  to  the 
British  evacuation  of  1783  the  years  of  revolution 
brought  within  the  confines  of  New  York  every 
evil    of    war.      "  The    colony/'    says    Mr.    Roberts, 


LIBERTY.  121 

"was  a  series  of  camps.  Battles  and  marauding 
expeditions,  massacres  and  the  burning  of  towns 
extended  over  all  its  inland  portions,  while  the 
chief  city  felt  the  burden  of  the  headquarters  of 
the  royal  forces  and  the  horrors  of  a  multitude  of 
prisons."  Upon  its  soil  Nicholas  Herkimer,  a  de- 
scendant of  one  of  the  sturdy  "  Palatinate  refu- 
gees "of  the  century  before,  led  his  army  of  farmers 
against  the  chasseurs  and  regulars  of  the  British 
army  in  the  battle  of  Oriskany  —  "  the  bloodiest 
and  most  picturesque  battle  of  the  Revolution  "  ; 
within  its  bounds  the  foremost  hero  and  the  great- 
est traitor  —  Nathan  Hale  and  Benedict  Arnold  — 
worked,  each,  his  glorious  and  his  infamous  end, 
and  in  its  picturesque  interior,  so  says  Mr.  Roberts, 
"  all  the  waters  and  all  the  paths  blazed  in  the 
woods,  have  their  stories  of  heroism  and  suffering. 
They  rival  the  pages  of  romance  in  the  daring,  in 
the  ingenuity,  in  the  diversity  of  experience  exhib- 
ited on  both  sides,  and  in  the  persistence  with 
which  the  settlers  held  to  their  homes,  often  as- 
sailed, and  more  than  once  destroyed." 

For  there  were  two  sides  to  this  conflict,  more 
antagonistic  because  more  nearly  related  than  were 
the  opposing  armies  of  England  and  America. 

It  is  the  sad  feature  of  every  quarrel  between 
conscience  and  self-interest  in  which  the  people 
bear   a    part   that    friend    may  be  arrayed    against 


122  LIBERTY. 

friend  and  brother  against  brother,  and  that  each 
may  hold  antagonistic  opinions  equally  strong  and 
equally  honest. 

It  has  been  the  fashion  of  historians  and  rehears- 
ers of  the  story  of  the  American  Revolution  to  cast 
all  possible  odium  upon  the  tory  element  —  that 
portion  of  the  people  that  from  various  motives  re- 
mained loyal  to  the  king  against  whom  their  neigh- 
bors had  rebelled.  Justice  should  be  conceded 
even  to  a  discreditable  foeman,  and  the  Tories  of 
America,  as  they  could  see  neither  the  wisdom  nor 
the  honor  of  forcing  opinions  into  warfare  and  pre- 
cepts into  blood,  held  to  what  they  deemed  con- 
scientious loyalty  quite  as  heroically  as  did  their 
neighbors  the  "  rebels  "  to  conscientious  patriotism. 
We  are  too  apt  to  judge  character  from  results 
rather  than  from  motives. 

It  is  matter  for  special  note,  however,  that  the 
purely  mercantile  spirit  of  the  New  York  colony 
was  opposed  to  separation  and  revolution.  So  also 
were  the  moneyed  classes  —  those  known  as  "  the 
aristocrats"  —  and  those  later  emigrants  from  Eng- 
land who,  new  to  the  demands  of  colonial  life,  could 
not  enter  into  the  spirit  of  protest  which  they  en- 
countered and,  naturally,  construed  into  disloyalty. 

Among  those  who  stood  thus  loyal  to  the  English 
king  was  the  family  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  the 
patroon  of  the  Mohawk. 


9(   fa  >J    'i 


LIBERTY.  125 

Neither  his  son  Sir  John,  nor  his  nephew  Colonel 
Guy  Johnson  into  whose  hands  his  estate  and  posi- 
tion descended  had  the  ability  or  the  patriotism  to 
act  as  he  would  have  advised.  They  became  bitter 
Tories  both,  their  names  were  detested  by  all  patri- 
ots as  leaders  in  a  war  between  neighbors;  and  they 
were  advisers  in  a  campaign  that  included  all  the 
horrors  of  Cherry  Valley  and  all  the  brutalities  of 
Wyoming.  Fugitives  at  last  from  the  wrath  of  a 
victorious  people,  their  large  estates  were  confis- 
cated, their  power  wasted,  their  influence  entirely 
destroyed  The  Indians  who  had  been  the  friends 
of  the  first  proprietor,  slow  to  appreciate  the  real 
position  of  the  colonists,  remained  loyal  to  Eng- 
land and  forever  lost  their  former  importance  as 
allies  and  neutrals.  Brant  (Tha-yen-da-ne-gea),  the 
Mohawk  protege  of  Johnson,  and  Butler,  the  tory 
leader,  became  names  of  detestation  to  the  people 
about  the  Mohawk,  and  where  the  word  of  Sir 
William  might  have  saved  life  and  cemented  friend- 
ships, his  memory  was  used  in  the  cause  of  hatred 
and  bloodshed. 

It  was  hard  for  faithful  adherents  like  Isaac 
Jansen  to  decide.  But  Lexington  and  Ticonde- 
roga  awakened  them  to  decision.  Bunker  Hill 
and  Long  Island  aroused  them  to  action.  When 
Sir  John  Johnson's  tory  regiment  of  Royal  Greens 
and  Colonel  John  Butler's  "loyal"   Rangers — both 


126  LIBERTY. 

recruited  in  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk  —  joined  to 
themselves  Brant's  Iroquois  warriors  and  threatened 
Fort  Stanwix,  Isaac  Jansen  was  among  the  first 
of  the  farmer  patriots  to  rally  to  the  defence  of 
his  country  and  to  range  himself  against  the  rep- 
resentatives of  English  tyranny.  And  these  repre- 
sentatives were  the  successors  of  his  former  friend 
and  patron.  But  in  a  war  of  principles  personal 
friendships  must  yield  to  patriotism.  The  battle  of 
Oriskany  checked  the  tory  uprising  and  the  defeat 
of  Burgoyne  proved  the  valor  and  the  determination 
of  the  yeomen  of  the  Mohawk. 

The  "  patriots  "  of  New  York  were  eminently 
the  "  people,"  the  lower  classes,  descendants  of 
the  Dutchman,  the  Huguenot,  the  Scotchman,  the 
Welshman,  the  Irishman,  the  English  "roundhead," 
and  the  New  England  dissenter  —  the  very  men 
who  longing  for  a  larger  freedom  of  opportunity 
left  to  their  sons  a  heritage  of  hope.  Prominent 
families  as  has  been  shown  were  identified  with 
the  patriot  cause,  but  as  a  rule  their  associates 
and  "  social    equals  "  leaned  to  the  Tory  side. 

Due  honor  however  should  be  given  to  those 
who,  representing  families  of  wealth  and  distinction, 
became  leaders  in  the  cause  of  liberty.  A  Schuyler, 
actual  captor  of  Burgoyne,  unselfishly  gave  alike 
the  opportunity,  the  leadership  and  the  glory  to 
another,  and  devoted    the  whole    of    his   Saratoga 


LIBERTY.  127 

harvest  to  the  needs  of  the  patriot  army;  a  Liv- 
ingston deprived  of  his  official  position  because 
of  his  pronounced  republicanism  led  his  colony  to 
independence,  represented  it  in  the  Continental 
Congress  and  was  one  of  the  five  who  drafted  the 
immortal  Declaration  ;  a  Hamilton,  boy  though  he 
was,  made  at  seventeen  a  speech  that  went  far  to- 
ward strengthening  the  determination  of  the  people 
for  freedom,  chivalrously  defended  his  Tory  in- 
structor at  college  from  the  fury  of  his  own  adher- 
ents, crossed  the  Delaware  with  Washington  on 
that  historic  ferry-ride  before  the  victory  of  Tren- 
ton, discovered  the  treason  of  Arnold  at  West 
Point  and  led  the  last  gallant  assault  upon  the 
dispirited  enemy  at  Yorktown  ;  a  Van  Cortlandt, 
type  and  representative  of  Manhattan  aristocracy, 
yet  resisted  the  appeals  of  Tory  and  royalist  friends, 
destroyed  the  major's  commission  in  the  British 
army  sent  him  by  Governor  Try  on  and  served 
with  honor  and  distinction  in  the  patriot  ranks  ; 
a  Judith  Murray,  shrewd  and  clear-headed,  when 
the  "  rebel  "  army  was  in  danger  of  capture,  by  the 
charm  of  her  nature  and  her  well-assumed  hospi- 
tality, held  the  British  officers  in  social  intercourse 
until  Washington's  imperilled  force  had  slipped 
from  their  British  pursuers,  and  thereby  saved  the 
patriot  army  from  capture.  These  and  many  other 
instances  attest  the  strength  of  purpose  that  held 


128  LIBERTY. 

true  to  the  cause  of  freedom  those  whom  self- 
interest  might  have  made  recreant,  and  contributed 
to  the  final  result  which  "  cast  down  the  mighty 
from  their  seat  and  exalted  them  of  low  decree." 

And  of  the  heroism  of  the  "  common  people  "  in 
the  struggle  for  freedon  —  the  element,  after  all,  out 
of  which  liberty  was  evolved  —  who  can  do  their 
story  justice  ?  With  power,  wealth  and  patronage 
arrayed  against  them,  the  people  of  the  State  of 
New  York  rose  to  an  appreciation  of  their  own 
possibilities,  and  in  common  with  the  people  of  the 
other  colonies  pledged  to  each  other,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  deathless  Declaration,  their  lives,  their 
fortunes  and  their  sacred  honor.  It  was  John  Paul- 
ding, "  a  poor  man  "  of  Westchester,  who,  disdain- 
ing: the  bribe  of  Andre,  frustrated  the  treason  of 
Arnold  and  without  hope  of  a  reward  beyond  "  his 
virtue  and  an  honest  sense  of  duty "  saved  the 
patriot  cause  from  utter  and  irretrievable  ruin.  It 
was  Enoch  Birch  of  Putnam,  the  hero  of  Cooper's 
masterly  story  of  "  The  Spy,"  who  at  the  risk  of 
life  and  honor  penetrated  the  enemy's  most  secret 
designs,  and  kept  Washington  informed  of  the 
British  commander's  most  important  intentions. 
It  was  Sybil  Luddington  of  Carmel,  a  fearless  young- 
girl  of  sixteen,  who  in  the  dead  of  night  rode  her 
horse  to  the  nearest  American  post  and  apprised 
the  Continentals  of  the  British  attack  on  Danbury. 


LIBERTY.  129 

It  was  Jack  Van  Arsdale,  a  plucky  up-river  lad  of 
seventeen,  who  climbed  the  greased  and  dismantled 
flag-staff  on  the  fort  at  New  York  and  flung  out  the 
American  colors  above  the  departing  and  defeated 
British  army.  It  was  the  starving  soldiers  of  New 
York  who  without  hope  of  pay  or  of  any  return  but 
death  zealously  reared  the  impregnable  fortifications 
at  West  Point,  u  every  stone  of  which,"  says  Ban- 
croft, "  was  a  monument  of  humble,  disinterested 
patriotism  ;  "  it  was  the  men  of  New  York  who,  with 
those  of  Virginia,  of  Pennsylvania,  of  Maryland, 
and  of  New  England,  fighting  "  with  one  spirit  for 
a  common  cause,  "  won  the  victory  at  Saratoga  — 
u  the  battle  of  the  husbandmen,"  the  most  important 
battle  of  the  Revolution  and  one  of  the  fifteen  deci- 
sive battles  of  the  world. 

Peace  came  at  last.  Peace  and  liberty.  But 
when  with  the  other  victorious  patriots  Tcunis  Jan- 
sen  returned  to  the  home  and  the  wife  he  had 
scarcely  seen  for  five  long  years,  he  came  to  a  scene 
of  desolation  and  ruin  that  tempered  even  the  joy 
of  victory  and  promised  only  hard  and  tireless  labor 
for  yet  other  long  years  to  come.  Teunis  returned 
as  he  had  gone,  only  a  private  soldier,  but  he  re- 
turned with  a  feeling  of  importance  and  responsi- 
bility as  one  of  the  sovereign  citizens  of  a  free 
republic  and  a  devoted  son  of  the  noble  State  of 
New  York. 


A  $6  LIBERTY. 

For  it  was  a  State  now.  Colony  and  province 
no  longer  it  held  an  important  place  in  the  sister- 
hood of  the  thirteen  free  and  independent  States 
that  confederated  together  in  the  American  Union, 
putting  in  the  place  of  royal  commissioners  and 
king-made  charters  the  peoples'  agreement  of  an 
acceptable  constitution. 

The  name  and  the  constitution  of  the  free  State 
of  New  York  both  date  from  the  twentieth  of  April, 
1777.  Upon  that  date  was  its  constitution  adopted, 
basing  its  authority  upon  the  will  of  the  people 
and  declaring  "  in  the  name  of  the  good  people 
the  free  exercise  of  religious  profession  and  wor- 
ship, without  discrimination  or  preference  to  all 
mankind." 

In  all  the  story  of  the  State  there  is  scarcely  a 
more  stirring  episode  than  this.  It  was  the  battle 
year  of  1777.  A  bitter  and  relentless  foe  occupied 
the  chief  city  of  the  new  commonwealth  and  all  its 
settled  sections  felt  the  touch  and  terror  of  vindic- 
tive war.  Forced  from  place  to  place  by  the  ever- 
present  danger  of  an  hostile  advance,  and  with  the 
risk  of  capture  and  the  certainty  of  the  harshest 
usage  ever  upon  them,  the  members  of  the  gov- 
erning body  of  the  infant  State  yet  boldly  met  and 
openly  proclaimed  their  independence  of  England, 
and  formally  adopted  the  people's  charter  —  the 
Constitution   of  the   State  of    New  York. 


VAX    ARSDALE    AT    THE    FLAG    STAFF, 


LIBERTY.  133 

"  The  Constitution  formed  in  New  York,  amid 
the  confusion  of  the  Revolution,"  says  Horatio 
Seymour,  "  is  a  proof  of  the  profound  knowledge 
of  its  leading  men  in  the  principles  of  civil  lib- 
erty, good  government  and  constitutional  law.  Its 
superiority  was  universally  admitted  and  it  was  re- 
ceived with  great  favor  not  only  in  the  State,  but 
elsewhere.  .  .  .  All  the  State  constitutions  rec- 
ognized in  express  terms  the  natural  and  absolute 
right  of  every  man  to  worship  God  according  to 
the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience,  yet  the  consti- 
tutions of  New  York  and  Virginia  alone  were  free 
from  provisions  repugnant  to  these  declarations." 

This  remarkable  instrument  was,  practically,  the 
work  of  three  young  men  —  John  Jay,  Robert  R. 
Livingston  and  Gouverneur  Morris.  Adopted  by 
the  convention  assembled  at  Kingston  on  the 
twentieth  of  April,  1777,  it  was  formally  published 
on  the  morning  of  Tuesday,  the  twenty-second, 
when,  mounting  upon  a  barrel  in  front  of  the 
county  courthouse  of  Kingston,  Robert  Benson, 
the  Secretary  of  the  Convention,  surrounded  by 
his  fellow  officers  and  members,  read  the  docu- 
ment to  the  assembled  people  who  had  been  sum- 
moned to  hear  it  by  the  bell  of  the  village  church. 

But  the  people  found  what  was  to  them  more 
important  business  than  constitution-making  and 
governing  when  with    the    close  of    the  war    they 


134  LIBERTY. 

came  to  their  own  again.  Seven  years  of  conflict 
had  demoralized  and  destroyed  the  trade  and  para- 
lyzed the  industries  of  the  community ;  the  State, 
like  the  infant  that  it  was,  needed  almost  to  begin 
life  over  again. 

So,  while  their  leaders  were  legislating,  the  peo- 
ple set  to  work.  And  so  valiantly  did  they  apply 
themselves  that  in  less  than  five  years  after  the 
actual  evacuation  of  New  York  by  the  British  both 
the  city  and  the  State  were  on  the  high  road  'to 
prosperity.  In  the  scarcely  reclaimed  interior 
where  the  desolation  of  war  had  well-nigh  made 
the  country  once  more  a  wilderness  the  activities 
of  peace  gave  new  vigor  to  the  people.  Within 
sight  of  those  hotly-contested  fields  of  Oriskany 
and  Saratoga  the  people  who  had  won  now  pre- 
pared to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  their  victory.  With 
each  new  year,  after  the  close  of  the  Revolution, 
emigration  set  more  steadily  toward  the  lands 
about  the  Mohawk.  The  estates  of  Sir  William 
Johnson  became  smaller  farms  and  holdings  and 
his  Indian  friends  were  crowded  into  contracted 
limits.  Isaac  Jansen  prospered  as  an  honest  work- 
ing-man, and  a  successful  landholder  ;  his  children 
and  grandchildren  diffused  themselves  over  the 
lands  that  stretched  away  from  the  beautiful  Mo- 
hawk, making  of  the  Western  wilderness  farm- 
land and  home-land  and  by  their  energy  and   their 


LIBERTY.  I 


00 


frugality  helped  to  lay  the  foundation  for  that 
growth  and  prosperity  that  came  at  last  to  the  now 
thronging  towns  and  villages  of  Central  New  York. 

To  the  south,  in  New  York  City  scarred  by 
siege  and  fire,  longer  idleness  was  at  a  discount. 
Teunis  Jansen,  following  the  traditions  of  his 
family,  was  carpenter  and  shipbuilder,  and  when  a 
city  is  to  be  rebuilt  and  its  commerce  rehabilitated 
the  wielder  of  axe  and  hammer,  plane  and  saw  finds 
plenty  to  do.  "  Dwellings  that  had  escaped  the 
flames,"  says  Mrs.  Lamb,  "  were  bruised  and  dis- 
mantled ;  gardens  and  grounds  were  covered  with 
a  rank  growth  of  weeds  and  wild  grass  ;  fences  had 
disappeared,  and  the  debris  of  army  life  was  strewn 
from  one  end  of  the  town  to  the  other.  Public 
buildings  were  battered  and  worn  with  usages 
foreign  to  the  purposes  of  their  erection  ;  the  trade 
of  New  York  was  ruined,  and  her  treasury  was 
empty." 

Here,  certainly,  was  work  enough  for  all,  from 
patroon  to  pauper.  But  even  this  was  in  a  measure 
retarded  by  the  spirit  of  intolerance  which  is  too 
often  the  accompaniment  of  liberty. 

It  is  human  nature  to  forgive  slowly.  Where 
for  years  opinions  had  been  so  hostilely  arrayed 
against  each  other  as  to  find  expression  only  in 
deeds  of  violence  and  blood,  victory  for  one  side 
and    defeat    for    the    other   could    scarcely  fail    to 


136  LIBERTY. 

be  attended  with  ill-feeling,  recriminations,  and  the 
desire  for  vengeance. 

Probably  in  all  the  history  of  strife  there  has 
never  been  a  more  thoroughly  surprised  and  con- 
founded class  of  people  than  were  the  Tories  of 
New  York  at  the  close  of  the  American  Revolution. 
As  has  been  said,  they  represented,  especially,  the 
mercantile  life  of  the  province,  the  makers  and  sup- 
porters of  business,  and  they  never  for  an  instant 
anticipated  anything  else  than  the  final  triumph  of 
England.  Saratoga  and  Yorktown  were  therefore 
terrible  revelations,  and  the  "  Definitive  Treaty  of 
Peace"  found  them  either  fugitives  or  suppliants. 

Once  victorious,  the  people  were  slow  to  pardon 
those  among  themselves  who  had  proved  faint- 
hearted or  recreant,  and  were  all  too  ready  to  vent 
their  detestation  in  harsh  and  vindictive  form. 
"  There  ought,  sir,"  declared  one  pitiless  patriot, 
"  no  Tory  to  be  suffered  to  exist  in  America." 
This  opinion  found  so  many  supporters  that  in 
1784  the  New  York  Legislature  passed  an  act  of 
outlawry  and  disfranchisement  against  all  those 
who  had  clung  to  the  side  of  England.  In  time, 
however,  better  and  nobler  counsels  prevailed,  and 
this  unchristian  measure  was  repealed  in  1787. 

Out  of  all  this,  however,  and  out  of  the  kindred 
and  accompanying  differences  came  the  party  divi- 
sions that   arc  at  once  the  bane  and  the  security  of 


LIBERTY.  137 

all  popular  governments.  Family  feuds,  like  those 
between  the  De  Lanceys  and  the  Livingstons, 
were  revived.  Personal  quarrels  became  public 
controversies,  and  differences  of  opinion  on  matters 
of  policy  and  right  direction  led  to  antagonisms 
that  have  scarcely  been  healed  even  to  this  day. 
Peace,  as  it  has  its  victories  no  less  renowned  than 
war  has  quite  as  emphatically  its  animosities  and 
its  discords. 

But  both  because  of  and  in  spite  of  these  party 
differences  the  little  State  steadily  grew  toward 
greatness.  Its  extensive  domain  stretching  from 
the  ocean  to  the  St.  Lawrence  and  from  the  Hud- 
son to  Niagara  furnished  boundless  opportunities 
for  homes  and  for  successful  development.  Immi- 
gration increased  with  each  new  year,  and  from  a 
community  of  less  than  a  quarter  of  a  million  in- 
habitants in  1783,  the  State  of  New  York  swelled 
its  numbers  to  over  half  a  million  in  1800,  and  to 
fully  a  million  in  18 10,  while  from  the  fifth  place  in 
population  and  importance  among  the  original  thir- 
teen colonies  it  advanced  to  the  very  foremost  place 
in  1820. 

With  the  increase  of  immigration  came  the  de- 
mand for  better  communication.  New  roads  were 
opened  to  the  interior;  the  lakes  and  rivers,  natural 
water-ways  for  travel  and  for  commerce,  were  put 
to  more    general    use ;    post-riders    galloped  every 


138  LIBERTY. 

fortnight  with  messages  and  mails  between  the 
Hudson  and  the  valley  of  the  Genesee,  and  a  more 
frequent  stage-line  along  the  bank  of  the  Hudson 
kept  up  continual  communication  between  New 
York  and  Albany.  Agriculture  brought  new  sec- 
tions of  the  State  under  cultivation  ;  manufactures, 
long  stagnant  or  repressed  under  the  restrictive 
policy  of  England,  were  widely  established  and 
used  the  vast  water  power  of  the  State  for  practical 
ends.  Ocean  commerce  grew  in  bulk  from  no  ex- 
ports whatever  during  the  Revolution,  to  two  and 
a  half  millions  of  dollars  in  1791,  and  to  more  than 
fourteen  millions  in  1800,  while  education  lagging 
always  behind  the  absolute  productive  necessities 
grew  slowly  but  steadily  as  its  value  to  the  citizens 
of  a  free  State  became  more  and  more  appreciated. 

The  fur-trade,  as  it  had  founded  Albany  gave 
birth  to  Buffalo,  while  Albany  itself,  constituted 
the  capital  of  the  young  State  in  1797,  became  the 
centre  of  the  constantly  increasing  grain  trade  and 
a  prosperous  and  important  city.  In  1786  Albany 
was  reckoned  as  the  sixth  city  in  the  Union  in 
population,  wealth  and  social  position.  From  17S4 
to  1 790  New  York  City  was  the  capital  of  the  new 
"  United  States." 

All  this  material  advance  as  it  implied  the  need 
of  capital  meant  labor  none  the  less.  It  was  the 
people's  victory  even  more  than  it  was  the  success 


LIBERTY.  139 

of  those  whose  names  alone  are  prominent  in  all 
State  histories.  This  latter  element  — the  minority 
of  power  and  social  position  —  while  containing 
many  true  and  honest  citizens  was  found,  far  too 
often,  aping,  in  a  community  based  upon  republican 
simplicity,  the  forms  and  snobbishness  of  foreign 
courts.  And  yet  while  disdaining  the  people  as 
social  inferiors,  these  "  leaders  of  society  "  sought 
to  use  for  purpose  of  self-advancement  the  very  ele- 
ment without  which  they  could  not  have  secured 
either  power,  position  or  success. 

This  minority  of  "  social  prominence  "  gave  the 
cities  importance  and  even  tinged  the  smaller  towns 
but  it  in  no  wise  touched  or  affected  that  broader 
and  sturdier  manhood  that  was  developing  out  of 
the  falling  forests  and  the  fertile  soil  the  real  ele- 
ments of  substantial  growth  and  permanent  success. 

Not  but  that  this  pioneer  life  was  hard  and 
contracted.  A  close  contact  with  the  soil  and  a 
knowledge  only  of  the  necessities  of  life  does  little 
toward  developing  the  finer  possibilities  of  man's 
intellectual  nature.  But  upon  this  basis  of  toil 
has  gradually  arisen  the  structure  of  a  liberal  and 
more  comprehensive  manliness  that  has  contrib- 
uted more  to  the  real  up-building  of  the  State  and 
the  nation  than  has  all  the  arrogance  of  capital 
and  all  the  petty  nonsensities  of  social  distinc- 
tions and  the   aristocracy  of  dress.     The  story  of 


140  LIBERTY. 

the  growth  of  the  State  of  New  York,  says  Mr. 
Roberts,  "  in  all  its  curious  details,  in  farms  laid 
out,  in  factories  built,  in  roads  extended,  in  the 
broadening  culture  of  the  people,  will  repay  exami. 
nation  and  can  never  lose  its  novelty." 

But  if  the  people  delegated  the  real  business  of 
governing  to  their  leaders  they  did  not  fail  to 
themselves  exercise  the  privilege  of  the  ballot. 
This  prerogative  of  freedom  was  as  inspiring  as  it 
was  novel  to  them  and  while  it  gave  them,  perhaps, 
a  childish  delight  in  their  own  importance,  it  gave 
them,  also,  the  deeper  sense  of  their  responsibilities. 
The  fact,  too,  that  suffrage  was  not  really  universal 
but  was  enjoyed  only  by  such  as  could  show  the 
small  but  needed  property  qualification  only  served 
to  increase  the  importance  of  those  who  were  legal 
voters.  They  were  the  rulers,  and  as  is  often  the 
case  with  newly  enfranchised  peoples,  they  used 
the  ballot,  sometimes,  quite  as  tyrannically  as  they 
did  conscientiously.  "  We,  the  people,"  could  make 
and  unmake  rulers  where  before  they  had  been  but 
vassals  and  serfs  and  any  interference  with  their 
rights  was  angrily  resented.  When,  in  the  election 
of  1792,  the  popular  vote  for  Mr.  Jay  as  governor 
was  overruled  in  favor  of  Mr.  Clinton  on  the 
ground  of  certain  irregularities  the  people  were 
aroused  at  once  and  would  have  taken  matters  in 
their  own  hands.      The)' denounced  the  high-minded 


LIBERTY.  141 

and  patriotic  Governor  Clinton  as  a  usurper  and  a 
fraud  and  would  have  proceeded  to  even  further 
extremities  had  not  the  overruled  candidate,  Mr. 
Jay,  himself  begged  them  to  desist ;  appealing  to 
"that  natural  good-humor  which  harmonize  society," 
he  urged  them  to  submit  to  the  decisions  of  the 
canvassers  of  the  returns  to  whom  they  themselves 
had  given  authority,  and  thus  the  excitement  was 
allayed. 

With  this  devotion  to  the  privilege  of  the  ballot, 
therefore,  election  day  in  the  young  State  was  a 
red-letter  day  to  the  new-made  freemen.  Every 
body  talked  politics  and  even  in  the  remotest  set- 
tlement a  deep  interest  was  taken  in  the  questions 
involved  and  in  the  claims  and  counter-claims  of 
the  opposing  parties. 

It  was  a  great  clay  in  the  Jansen  household  when 
in  the  presidential  election  of  1792  the  eldest  son, 
still  a  Teunis,  of  course,  becoming  of  age  that 
year  and  at  the  same  time  a  free-holder,  cast  his 
first  vote  for  the  presidential  electors.  The  family 
were  devoted  Federalists,  and  Tryntie's  Jansen's 
Jansen,  as,  according  to  Dutch;  nomenclature  the 
young  voter  was  termed  by  the  friends  of  the 
family,  proudly  voted,  as  did  his  father,  for  Wash- 
ington and  Clinton. 

The  opposing  political  parties  of  that  day  were 
the  Federalists  and  the  Anti-Federalists  —  the  first 


142  LIBERTY. 

favoring  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  as 
it  was  first  adopted  in  1787,  the  other  holding  the 
theory  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  State  and  seeking 
to  limit  the  powers  of  the  General  Government. 
These  were,  however,  but  the  bases  of  beliefs;  the 
methods  and  measures  of  each  party  touched  many 
other  questions  and  led  to  numberless  disputes  and 
antagonisms,  while  the  adherents  were  even  more 
bitter  and  personal  than  are  the  political  opponents 
of  to-day. 

In  the  war-flurries  that  stirred  the  nation  in  the 
closing  years  of  the  century,  as  now  France  and 
now  England  seemed  inclined  to  be  arrogant  and 
aggressive,  young  Teunis  Jansen,  in  common  with 
all  the  youth  of  the  land,  quickly  caught  the  war 
fever  and  proudly  paraded  in  his  curious  uniform 
as  one  of  the  New  York  Militiamen,  while  mother 
and  sisters  regarded  him  lovingly  as  one  of  the 
possible  defenders  of  the  dignity  of  America. 

All  this  martial  fervor,  however,  did  not  with- 
draw him  from  his  line  of  daily  duty  and  his  saw 
and  hammer  played  in  unison  with  those  of  his 
father  as  they  wrought  their  sturdiest  upon  many  a 
new  building  in  the  growing  town  or  upon  the 
trim-looking  vessels  that  were  launched  from  the 
New  York   ship  yards. 

Until  1790,  New  York  City  had  been  the  capi- 
tal of   the   nation,  but   in  that  year,  president  and 


LIBERTY.  143 

Qongress  removed  temporarily  to  Philadelphia  and 
the  local  pride  of  the  metropolis  was  deeply  touched. 
It  seemed  to  all  New  Yorkers  that  no  city  could  be 
more  suitable  for  the  nation's  capital  than  their  own 
loved  and  successful  town. 

With  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century  the 
constant  stream  of  immigration  was  bringing  new 
settlers  into  every  section.  The  incoming  of  so 
many  different  nationalities  even  still  further  in- 
creased the  cosmopolitan  character  of  the  popula- 
tion, and  it  is  stated,  as  an  instance  of  this,  that 
in  the  little  hamlet  of  "  old  Fort  Schuyler  "  (now 
Utica)  when  it  numbered  but  ninety  houses  "ten 
or  twelve  different  nations  were  represented. 

With  the  increase  of  trade  and  manufacture, 
financial  wealth  grew  and  in  1800  there  were  banks 
in  operation  at  New  York  City,  Hudson,  Albany 
and  Troy.  The  scandals  attached  to  the  early  his- 
tory of  these  banks,  the  indications  that  certain 
high  officials  were  involved  in  questionable  transac- 
tions concerning  them,  and  the  evident  mingling 
of  political  bargains  with  their  management  are 
proof  that  people  in  those  days  were  quite  as  open 
to  criticism  and  quite  as  liable  to  yield  to  tempta- 
tion as  are  their  descendants  in  what  we  are  too 
apt  to  term  "  these  degenerate  days." 

The  boys  and  girls  of  the  Jansen  household  were 
growing  with  their  city  and  their  State.     Following 


144  LIBERTY. 

the  traditions  of  the  family  the  young  birds  left 
the  home  nest  as  soon  as  they  were  able  to  shift 
for  themselves.  When  the  young  Teunis  of  Revo- 
lutionary times  grew  to  be  old  Teunis  —  a  grizzled 
and  hard-working  citizen  of  sixty  —  he  and  his 
faithful  Tryntie  lived  almost  alone  in  their  little 
house  on  Anthony  Street  near  the  Collect  Pond 
(where  much  to  the  scandal  and  surprise  of  the 
more  superstitious  folk  John  Fitch  had  launched 
the  first  steamboat  in  1796).  Their  children  and 
grandchildren  could  be  found  near  by  in  the  city 
itself  or  far  away  by  the  locks  of  the  Mohawk,  on 
the  rapidly-growing  city  of  Hudson,  while  one,  trav- 
elling off  to  join  his  grandfather's  relatives  in  the 
interior,  had  even  risen  to  the  dignity  of  a  peda- 
gogue and  was  teaching  a  country  school  in  the 
backwoods  beyond   Otsego. 

Workers  all,  in  their  humble  way,  they  sought  to 
do  their  duty  as  honest  men,  helpful  women  and 
good  citizens.  And  labor  which  is  always  honor- 
able is  always  helpful.  It  is  the  quiet  endeavors  of 
its  unheralded  citizens  quite  as  much  as  the  world- 
known  labors  of  its  leaders  that  advance  a  State 
from  the  days  of  weak  beginnings  to  those  of 
strong  and  influential   accomplishments. 


CHAPTER   VII, 


EARLY    POLITICAL    STRUGGLES. 

T  seems  strangely  out 
of  place  that  in  what 
is  really  a  peace-loving 
world  the  story  of  its 
peoples  should  be 
punctuated  by  their 
quarrels.  The  wars 
of  the  world  mark  the 
epochs  in  its  history 
whereas  they  should  in  reality  be  consigned  to  a 
secondary  place.  One  will  scarcely  deny  that  these 
wars  have  not  in  a  general  way  been  a  contribu- 
tion toward  progress,  but  the  real  life  of  the  people 
themselves,  irrespective  of  generals  and  armies,  of 
diplomats  and  treaties,  has  after  all  given  the  true 
impetus  to  the  advance  of  the  nations. 

So  when,  according  to  all  our  histories,  we  should 
imagine  the  thirteen  States  of  the  American  Union 
and  the  State  of  New  York  in  particular  as  all 
absorbed  in  thoughts  of  war,  during  the  period  that 
culminated  in  the  year  1812  in  the  second  conflict 

'45 


146  EARLY  POLITICAL    STRUGGLES. 

with  England,  I  am  quite  certain  that  the  people 
of  the  State,  such  at  least  as  were  of  the  class  of 
which  Teunis  Jansen  and  his  family  were  types, 
had  more  real  concern  for  their  daily  duties  —  their 
business  gains  and  losses,  their  home  happenings, 
joys  and  sorrows,  and  the  personal  affairs  of  their 
next  door  neighbors  —  than  for  the  question  as  to 
the  legality  of  the  embargo  act,  the  repeal  of  the 
Berlin  decree,  the  British  "  orders  in  council,"  or 
the  impressment  of  American  seamen. 

And  yet  these  questions  brought  on  a  war  that 
was  alike  irritating  and  disastrous,  and  that  fell 
with  especial  severity  upon  the  people  of  the  State 
of  New  York.  That  Commonwealth  was  the  rally- 
ing ground  of  armies,  and  the  pivotal  point  around 
which  American  interests  centred. 

In  these  calmer  days  of  arbitration  and  mutual 
concession  such  a  war  as  that  of  181 2  would  be 
impossible.  If  England  was  aggressive  so  was 
America  hot-headed.  The  old  scars  of  1783  were 
still  unhealed  and  the  leaders  of  a  vindictive  war 
party  forced  the  nation  into  a  conflict  for  which 
there  was  really  no  excuse. 

But  when  war  actually  did  come  it  found  the 
people  loyal.  Disapproval  and  censure  gave 
place  to  a  united  stand  against  a  foreign  foe  and 
the  people  of  New  York  unanimously  agreed 
in    a   great    mass-meeting    in    the    park    of    their 


EARLY  POLITICAL   Sl'RUGGLES.  1 47 

chief  city  to  "lay  aside  all  animosity  and  private 
bickering,  and  aid  the  authorities  in  constructing 
fortifications." 

The  Jansens,  father  and  sons,  put  away  their 
tools  and  hastened  to  offer  their  sturdy  muscle  for 
work  upon  the  city's  fortifications.  One  of  the 
boys  was  among  the  twenty-five  hundred  men  who 
sailed  out  of  New  York  harbor  on  privateering 
cruises  against  the  commerce  of  England,  and  both 
the  eldest  and  the  youngest  sons  —  Teunis  and 
Jacob  Jansen  —  were  in  the  ranks  of  the  militia- 
men who  organized  for  land  defence. 

All  this  energy  was  sorely  needed.  New  York 
State  was  but  illy  prepared  to  withstand  a  foreign 
invasion.  Her  harbors  were  almost  defenceless, 
her  northern  frontier  line  was  but  a  long  stretch 
of  exposed  country,  and  from  Canada  or  from  the 
sea  she  was  equally  open  to  the  enemy. 

But  the  story  of  181 2  proves,  if  such  proof  were 
needed,  that  after  all  courageous  and  purpose- 
filled  men  are  the  surest  defence  for  a  State. 
Ogdensburg  and  Sackett's  Harbor,  Chippewa  and 
Lundy's  Lane  proved  that  the  valor  of  New  York 
still  maintained  its  old  renown,  while  Decatur  and 
Hull,  Perry  and  Jones  upheld  the  honor  of  their 
native  land  and  made  its  navy  invincible  alike  on 
the  great  lakes  that  washed  the  northern  boundary 
of  the  Empire  State  and  upon  the  greater  ocean 


148  EARLY  POLITICAL    STRUGGLES. 

through  whose  narrow  gateway  the  city  on  its 
southern  shore  was  reached. 

On  the  eleventh  of  February,  18 14,  the  ship 
Favorite  brought  into  New  York  harbor  the  news 
of  the  treaty  of  Ghent.  Peace  was  proclaimed,  just 
at  the  moment  when  peace  was  sorely  needed,  and 
the  trade  and  commerce  of  the  imperilled  State, 
well-nigh  ruined  by  two  years  of  war,  revived  with 
new  energy  and  vigor. 

The  origin  and  growth  of  political  parties  is  at 
once  due  to  and  indicative  of  the  progress  of  the 
people.  Wherever  men  congregate  in  masses  vary- 
ing opinions  or  desires  will  control  and  divide  them. 
In  the  old  days  of  force  and  autocracy  there  were 
but  two  divisions  —  the  tyrants  and  the  tyrannized  ; 
but  as  men  tended  toward  self-government  desires 
were  coined  into  protests  and  demands  were  made 
the  bases  of  party  or  national  differences. 

In  no  State  in  the  American  Union  has  this 
intelligent  organization  of  political  antagonisms 
been  more  a  factor  in  the  development  of  the  Com- 
monwealth than  in  the  State  of  New  York.  Her 
people  —  of  varying  nationalities,  creeds  and  social 
standing  —  have  ever  exhibited  an  eagerness  and 
an  aptitude  for  self-government  and  therefore  for 
the  methods  of  such  government.  Never  brutal, 
though  sometimes  rancorous,  party  spirit  has  ever 
run  high  and  strong  and  the  vigor  of  every  political 


EARLY  POLITICAL   STRUGGLES.  15  I 

campaign  has  been  typical  of  the  energetic  life  of 
the  people. 

At  first,  when  the  apathy  of  simple  mercantile 
colonists  was  giving  place  to  the  practical  selfish- 
ness of  a  developing  community,  political  parties 
were,  essentially,  but  personal  followings  —  append- 
ages to  those  few  leading  families  of  the  infant 
State  who  through  the  semi-feudalism  of  colonial 
times  had  arrogated  to  themselves  alike  the  offices 
and  the  prestige  of  the  province.  The  Jansens 
and  the  Yerrentons,  the  Ver  Valens  and  the  Van 
Blarcoms,  the  Des  Marets  and  the  Snedens  were 
but  the  personal  followers  of  De  Lancey  or  Living- 
ston, of  Van  Cortland  or  Schuyler,  of  Clinton  or 
the  later  Livingstons,  according  as  association, 
location,  or  policy  dictated  and  it  was  not,  indeed, 
until  a  growing  democratic  spirit  emancipated  men 
from  this  species  of  unconscious  vassalage  and  the 
increase  of  immigration  brought  into  the  State 
voters  who  neither  knew  nor  regarded  these  family 
feuds,  that  the  peoples'  politics  found  room  for 
footing  or  growth.* 

For  forty  years,  at  least  —  from  the  days  of 
Alexander  Hamilton  and  George  Clinton,  lead- 
ers    of    the    opposing    factions  —  Federalists    and 


*  "  In  the  earlier  days  of  the  colony,"  says  Mr.  De  Peyster,  "  the  struggle  was  one  of 
antagonistic  races;  later  it  became  a  contest  for  political  power  between  leading,  rival  families, 
and  later  still  it  was  a  war  of  principles  ;  these  were  followed  by  the  organized  struggles  of  the 
more  modern  political  parties,  each  seeking  the  mastery." 


152  EARLY  POLITICAL   STRUGGLES. 

Anti-Federalists  (Democrats  and  Republicans*)  had 
been  the  opposing  political  parties  in  New  York  as 
well  as  in  the  other  States  in  the  new  nation.  Fed- 
eral or  State  sovereignty  —  which  should  it  be  ? 
this  was  long  the  main  question  in  difference,  and 
as  time  and  the  growing  interests  of  the  nation 
changed  or  modified  the  bearing  of  this  question, 
creating  new  phases  and  more  minute  divisions, 
the  people  who  were  at  first  simply  adherents  and 
voters  became  gradually  promoters  and  partisans  of 
new  measures.  The  two  original  factions  split  into 
other  and  growing  parties.  New  influences  were  at 
work  and  after  the  war  of  181 2  the  rapid  growth 
and  development  of  the  State  brought  forward 
many  important  questions  as  factors  and  creators  of 
new  political  parties.  Burrites  and  Livingston-men, 
Clintonians  and  Bucktails  and  other  less  prominent 
but  equally  assertive  factions  split,  severed  and 
changed  entirely  the  complexion  of  the  original 
parties,  while  that  "personalism  in  politics"  which 
to-day  we  so  deplore  and  criticise  at  each  recurring 
campaign  was  fully  as  rampant  and  even  more  vin- 
dictive. The  public  prints  were  full  of  these  per- 
sonal attacks.  One  leader  was  declared  by  an 
opponent  to  be  "the  veriest  hypocrite  and  the  most 


*And  yet,  so  curious  arc  the  whirligigs  of  politics,  the  Democrats  of  those  days  were 
the  Republicans,  the  Republicans  were  the  Democrats.  "The  Democratic  Party  in  its  earlier 
days,"  says  Mr.  De  Peyster,  "was  designated  by  the  title  of  the  Republican  party.  The 
Tammany  Society  officially  recognized  the  title  of  Republican  as  the  name  of  its  party." 


EARL  Y  POLITICAL   STR  UGGLES.  1 5  3 

malignant  villain  in  the  State,"  while  even  so  high- 
minded  and  courteous  a  citizen  as  De  Witt  Clinton 

—  Senator,  Mayor  and  Governor  —  did  not  hesitate 
to  designate  certain  of  his  opponents  as  "composed 
of  the  combined  spawn  of  Federalism  and  Jacobin- 
ism, and  generated  in  the  venomous  passions  of 
disappointment  and  revenge  —  neither  fish  nor 
flesh,  bird  nor  beast,  but  made  up  of  all  monstrous, 
all  prodigious  things." 

In  all  these  clashings  of  personal  and  party  dif- 
ferences the  people  themselves — alike  the  tools 
and  the  terror  of  their  leaders  —  became  harder 
to  control  and  more  impatient  of  dictation  and 
manipulation. 

Emancipated  by  the  teachings  of  the  Revolution 
and  the  growing  independence  of  the  day,  from 
the  spirit  of   semi-vassalage  to  the  great   families 

—  the  inheritance  of  centuries  of  feudalism  —  the 
people  awoke  gradually  to  their  individual  import- 
ance and  to  the  power  that  lay  in  their  votes.  And 
yet  they  dallied  with  this  new  prerogative,  sway- 
ing from  indifference  to  indignation  in  fitful  and 
spasmodic  ways.  A  free  people  is  a  fickle  one 
save  when  great  issues  unite  or  antagonize  them. 

The  Jansens,  father  and  son,  from  the  days  of 
the  first  Teunis  and  old  Anthony  Yerrenton  had, 
even  when  most  asserting  their  democratic  opinions, 
been  but  personal  followers  of  the  more  prominent 


:54  EARLY  POLITICAL   STRUGGLES. 

advocates  for  independence  among  the  ranks  of 
the  "  aristocrats." 

As  these  had  been,  as  far  back  as  Stuyvesant's 
day,  those  "  two  malignant  fellows,"  Peter  Kuyter 
and  Cornelis  IMelyns,  so  through  succeeding  years 
and  crises  had  succeeding  Jansens  followed  the 
fortunes  and  advocated  the  principles  of  Steen- 
wyck  and  of  Leisler,  of  De  Peyster  and  Van  Dam, 
of  Cruger  and  De  Lancey,  presumably  "  leaders  of 
the  people."  Through  the  dark  days  of  the  Revo- 
lution they  had  clung  to  Livingston  and  Schuyler, 
to  Sears  and  Clinton,  to  Herkimer  and  Morris  and 
during  the  formative  years  of  the  young  nation  they 
had  been  loyal  in  turn  to  Hamilton  and  Jay,  to 
Van  Rensselaer  and  Lewis,  or  swayed,  as  public 
opinion  turned  and  shifted  from  Adams  to  Jeffer- 
son, from  Hamilton  to  Burr.  Federalists  at  heart 
they  were  still  ready  to  follow  the  majority  when 
power  shifted  to  the  republican  side  and  were 
equally  moved  to  loud  hurrahs  by  the  appeals  of 
De  Witt  Clinton  and  the  fiery  leadership  of  Burr. 

And,  in  all  this,  the  unknown  and  simple  folk  of 
the  house  of  Jansen  were  but  types  of  the  thousands 
like  them  —  men  and  women  who  reasoned  a  trifle, 
but,  too  often,  blindly  put  their  faith  in  some  hero 
of  the  hour,  swerving  suddenly  to  the  opposite 
quarter  as  the  wind  of  public  favor  turned  the 
weathercock  of  leadership.      For  ever  and  always  — 


EARLY  POLITICAL    STRUGGLES.  I  55 

save  in  cases  of  extreme  public  clanger — the  home- 
keepers  and  home-lovers  regard  their  personal  be- 
longings, aspirations,  happenings  and  desires  as  of 
more  importance  than  the  actions  of  governments, 
the  designs  of  statecraft,  or  the  loud  heralded 
"principles"  of  politicians. 

Even  the  statesman  is  an  outgrowth  of  the  poli- 
tician. Censure  and  criticism  have  always  a  grain 
of  truth  at  base,  and  opposition  has  in  it  a  mingling 
of  policy  and  patriotism,  craft  and  honor.  It  is 
only  when  self-interest  dominates  all  the  better 
qualities  that  alike  the  statesmen  and  the  public 
official  become  the  politician  —  a  much  abused 
word  that  should  imply  patriotism  but  far  too  often 
means  only  personalism. 

It  was  Aaron  Burr,  a  disappointed  politician  of 
New  York  who,  the  loser  by  one  vote  of  the  high 
office  of  President  of  the  United  States,  lost  also,  by 
an  equally  narrow  chance,  the  Governor's  chair  and 
then,  angered  by  his  reverses,  murdered  his  chief 
opponent,  and  concocted  and  sought  to  carry  out  in 
a  spirit  of  blind  revenge,  a  scheme  of  revolution 
and  of  treason.  It  was  Alexander  Hamilton,  of 
New  York,  almost  a  statesman,  who  called  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  an  "  experiment  " 
and  spoke  of  the  people  as  "  their  own  worst 
enemies,"  who  arrogated  to  himself  the  chief  "  pat- 
ronage "   of    his   successful    party,  and  vilified    his 


156  EARLY  POLITICAL   STRUGGLES. 

rivals  in  language  that  was  not  less  bitter  because 
it  was  courteous.  It  was  De  Witt  Clinton  who, 
with  even  more  claims  to  the  title  of  statesman  than 
had  Hamilton,  could  yet  be  vindictive  toward  his 
opponents  and  arrogant  toward  his  supporters,  and 
could  try  all  the  arts  of  the  politician  and  the  ques- 
tionable methods  of  the  party  manager  in  order 
to  secure  his  own  ends  or  to  thwart  those  of  his 
political  rivals.  There  is  after  all  little  difference 
between  the  political  methods  of  1808  and  those  of 
1888  in  this  same  State  of  New  York,  and  what 
difference  there  may  be  is  really  to  the  credit  of 
these  later  and  better  days. 

Party  differences  so  fierce  and  factious  to-day 
were  even  more  bitter  then.  Invective,  insult  and 
personal  abuse  were  bandied  about  from  one  politi- 
cal opponent  to  another  and  the  friends  of  one 
day  were  the  bitter  enemies  of  the  next.  "  I  do 
declare,"  one  of  the  actors  in  these  early  political 
strifes  exclaimed  years  afterward,  "  it  was  a  pleasure 
to  live  in  those  good  old  days  when  a  Federalist 
could  knock  a  Republican  down  in  the  street  and 
not  be  questioned  about  it." 

The  explanation  of  the  existence  of  such  an  era 
of  bad  feeling  is  not  difficult  to  find.  Communities 
were  smaller,  and  personal  preferences  were  more 
pronounced.  The  people's  prerogative  which  so 
many  of  us  nowadays  hold  far  too   lightly  though 


EARLY  POLITICAL   STRUGGLES.  I  57 

then  often  slighted  was  yet  more  highly  prized 
than  it  is  to-day.  Party  divisions  often  separated 
father  and  son  with  almost  hostile  lines,  and  again 
and  again  did  it  happen  that  "  a  man's  foes  were  of 
his  own  household." 

There  was  therefore  terror  and  dismay  in  the 
house  of  Jansen  when,  one  brisk  November  day  in 
the  year  18 18,  young  Teunis  Jansen,  seventh  of  the 
name,  deliberately  walked  into  his  father's  house 
on  Vestry  Street  and,  with  a  bucktail  in  his  hat, 
coolly  fronted  that  irate  old  gentleman. 

Teunis  the  elder  caught  instant  sight  of  the 
obnoxious  decoration  and  started  up  angrily. 

"  So,  so,  boy  !  "  he  cried,  "  what  does  this  mean  ? 
Have  you,  too,  gone  Tammany  mad  ?  " 

"  Not  Tammany  mad,  father,  but  Tammany  sane, 
since  none  but  Tammany  folk  be  sane  now,  I 
think,"  replied  the  younger  man.  "  I  tell  you,  dad, 
we're  bound  to  beat  your  Caesar  of  a  Clinton  this 
time.  I've  been  huzzaing  for  little  Van  till  I'm 
hoarse." 

"And  what  are  you,  then?  A  Bucktail?" 
snapped  out  old  Teunis  fiercely ;  "  and  do  you 
dare  huzza  against  Governor  Clinton,  and  call  him 
Caesar,  boy?  What  d'ye  mean;  what  are  you 
thinking  of?  When  did  you  join  this  spawn  of 
treason  that  you  call  Tammany  ?  " 

"  'Tis  no  spawn  of   treason,  sir,"  replied  young 


I  $8  EARLY  POLITICAL    STRUGGLES. 

Teunis,  quite  as  hotly.  "  'Tis  the  party  of  freedom 
and  progress." 

"  The  party  of  fudge  and  fiddlestick,  booby," 
retorted  his  father.  "  You're  like  all  the  rest  of 
these  young  blades  —  think  you  know  more  than 
your  elders,  eh  ?  Tammany,  houf  !  "  and  the  old 
man  blew  a  great  puff  of  smoke  straight  at  his  son 
—  "that  for  Tammany,  sir!  And  who  was  Tam- 
many, I'll  ask  ye  ?  a  greasy  old  runagate  of  an 
Injun  and  no  more  to  be  trusted  than  are  the  hot- 
heads like  you  who  get  up  a  club  and  think  to 
turn  the  world  upside  down.  Tammany,  phew ! 
See  here,  boy,  do  you  dare  set  yourself  in  rebellion 
against  Governor  Clinton  —  and  your  father  ?  " 

"  So  long  as  you  are  fogies  and  tyrants,  yes," 
replied  Teunis  the  younger.  "  Tammany  was  no 
greasy  old  runagate.  His  attachment  to  liberty, 
sir,  was  greater  than  his  love  of  life  —  and  those 
are  better  principles  than  ever  De  Witt  Clinton 
advanced." 

"  Or  your  father  either,  I  suppose  you  would  say, 
boy,  eh  ?  "  broke  out  old  Teunis.  "  Take  that 
thing  out  of  your  hat  —  at  once,  sir  —  and  huzza 
for  Governor  Clinton,  or  I'll  thrash  you  roundly, 
Bucktail  or  no  Bucktail,"  and  the  irate  old  gentle- 
man made  a  dash  for  the  brush  in  his  son's  hat. 

11  I  am  a  freeman  and  free  man,  father,"  said  the 
young  fellow,  stepping  back    and   putting  a    hand 


EARLY  POLITICAL    STRUGGLES.  161 

before  the  offending  brush  of  a  buck's  tail  which 
the  Tammany  men  (a  "  bolt  "  in  the  Republican 
party)  wore  in  their  hats  as  the  badge  of  their  fac- 
tion. "  If  I  am  an  offense  in  your  house,  sir,"  he 
added  in  a  very  lofty  manner,  "  I  will  take  myself 
off  where  I  am  none  such  and  where  I  can  find 
friends  who  will  not  call  my  honest  opinions  fudge 
and  fiddlestick." 

"  Well,  go,  then,  and  a  good  riddance  to  you," 
shouted  the  angry  father ;  "ami  to  be  browbeaten 
in  my  own  house  and  by  my  own  flesh  and  blood, 
too  ?  Get  along  to  your  Tammany  pest-house,  sir. 
You're  no  son  of  mine  if  you  are  of  that  set.  Get 
along  to  your  Bucktails,  I  say.  We'll  pull  'em 
down  fast  enough,  I  can  tell  you,  when  once  we 
get  the  hounds  after  'em  next  election  day." 

And  so  father  and  son  parted  in  anger,  and  all 
because  of  some  obscure  political  difference  that  to 
us,  at  this  distance,  seems  slight  and  absurd  enough. 

Of  course  this  quarrel  was  speedily  made  up,  for 
the  wife  and  mother  is  ever  a  spirit  of  peace  in  a 
home,  and  father  and  son  shook  hands  again ;  but 
even  to  such  extents  did  party  rancor  go  and  the 
splits,  such  as  this,  in  the  same  party  were  even 
more  fierce  and  bitter  than  were  the  hatreds  of 
rival  parties. 

But  it  is  from  just  such  minor  divisions  as  these 
that  new  principles  proceed,  develop  and  grow  into 


1 62  EARLY  POLITICAL    STRUGGLES. 

new  and  progressive  parties.  Of  these  very  Buck- 
tails  —  Martling  men  —  Tammany  men,  as  they 
were  variously  called  —  grew  the  later  Republican 
party,  which,  bitterly  opposed  to  Governor  De  Witt 
Clinton's  "  personal  power  "  in  the  State,  daily  grew 
in  strength  and  importance,  contributed  largely  to 
the  election  of  Monroe  as  President  in  1820,  very 
nearly  defeated  Governor  Clinton's  re-election,  that 
same  year,  and  sent  his  chief  opponent,  the  shrewd 
and  politic  Martin  Van  Buren,  to  a  seat  in  the 
Senate  of  the   United  States. 

The  twenty-five  years  that  had  elapsed  since 
the  united  party  of  "  Washington  and  Freedom  " 
claimed  alike  the  loyalty  and  suffrages  of  all  free- 
holders, had  seen  a  divergent  political  growth  in 
the  State  of  New  York.  The  "party  of  freedom" 
has  disintegrated  and  divided  into  factions  and  fol- 
lowings  more  or  less  hostile  as  the  personal  desires 
of  leaders  or  the  preferences  of  voters  determined. 

"  The  great  political  parties  in  the  State  of  New 
York,"  says  Mr.  De  Peyster,  "  arose  from  the  con- 
flicting sentiments  concerning  the  extent  of  power 
which  was  necessary  to  enable  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States  to  discharge  the  duties  to  which 
it  was  appointed;  but  they  did  not  assume  distinct 
organization  until  the  proposed  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  was  presented  to  the  State  for  its 
approval   and  ratification." 


EARLY  POLITICAL    STRUGGLES.  1 63 

Originally  a  strong  anti-federalist  State  and 
wedded  to  the  picturesque  doctrine  of  independent 
sovereignty*  the  growing  Commonwealth  of  New 
York  had  as  time  and  circumstances  modified  its 
beliefs  grown  into  an  active  loyalty  to  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  United  States  and  its  decreasing  feder- 
alist or  increasing  anti-federalist  majorities  proved 
its  gradual  acceptance  of  allegiance  to  a  central 
authority. 

The  growing  animosities  between  Alexander 
Hamilton  and  Governor  George  Clinton  —  the 
acknowledged  leaders  of  the  opposing  parties  — 
naturally  developed,  after  the  closely-disputed  adop- 
tion of  the  National  Constitution  in  1788,  a  per- 
sonal following  for  each  chieftain,  and  it  is  even 
claimed  that  President  Washington,  desirous  though 
he  was  of  harmonizing  both  factions,  yet  showed 
a  marked  preference  in  his  disposal  of  national 
patronage  in  New  York  State  to  the  friends  of 
Hamilton. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  it  is  certain  that  year  by  year 
the    breach    widened    and    party    lines    grew    ever 


*"The  three  great  States  of  Virginia,  Pennsylvania  and  Massachusetts,"  says  Horatio 
Seymour,  "  insisted  upon  representation  in  the  National  Senate  and  House  of  Representa- 
tives in  proportion  to  population.  New  York,  alone  of  the  large  States,  declared  that  she  did 
not  ask  nor  would  she  take  a  representation  in  either  branch  of  the  National  Legislature 
beyond  what  was  allowed  to  the  feeblest  member  in  the  confederacy.  "To  my  mind,"  this 
loyal  son  of  his  native  Slate  declares,  "this  forms  the  noblest  passage  in  the  history  of  our 
State.  Her  future  greatness  was  then  apparent,  yet  she  had  the  magnanimity  to  rise  above 
the  temptations  of  power  and  the  superior  wisdom  to  see  the  necessity  of  forming  a  govern- 
ment of  limited  jurisdiction  and  of  upholding  local  sovereignties." 


1 64  EARL  1 "  POLITICAL   SIR  UG  GLES. 

sharper  while,  even  as  now,  the  county  of  New 
York,  strongly  federalist,  carried  the  slim  majorities 
of  the  State  in  the  earlier  elections. 

As  young  Teunis  Jansen  was  captured  in  1820 
by  the  brilliancy  of  Martin  Van  Buren,  so,  twenty 
years  before,  had  his  father  been  led  away  by  the 
audacity  and  dash  of  Aaron  Burr. 

Probably  no  character  in  American  history  ever 
occupied  so  unique  and  picturesque  a  position  as 
did  Aaron  Burr.  A  daring  young  soldier  during 
the  Revolution,  though  always  distrusted  by  Wash- 
ington, this  successful  Albany  lawyer  gained  posi- 
tion and  prominence  so  rapidly  after  his  entrance 
into  public  life  as  to  distance  all  competitors  and 
to  become  before  he  had  fully  reached  his  prime  a 
popular  and  almost  successful  candidate  even  for 
the  presidency  itself.  Shrewd,  politic,  audacious, 
unscrupulous,  reckless  and  designing,  he  possessed 
a  winning  presence  and  a  personal  magnetism  that 
blinded  men  to  his  real  character  and  attached 
them  to  his  following  with  as  much  enthusiasm 
as  ever  bound  together  the  forest  band  of  a  Robin 
Hood  or  the  henchmen  of  some  mediaeval  chief- 
tain. Never  forgetting  his  own  personal  interest 
and  advantage  lie  could  yet  seem  to  sink  self  in 
behalf  of  the  people  so  adroitly  that  for  years  he 
was  at  once  the  hero  and  the  idol  of  a  large  portion 
of   the  free  voters  of   New  York,  and  only  lost  his 


EARLY  POLITICAL   STRUGGLES.  1 65 

hold  upon  them  when  his  unbridled  ambition  and 
reckless  habits  led  him  into  personal  intrigue  and 
assassination,  and  a  bold  attempt  at  treason  drove 
him  from  his  home  into  the  gloom  and  ignominy 
of  flight  and  exile. 

It  was  possibly  this  severe  lesson  in  unwise 
attachment  to  an  unworthy  leader  that  made  the 
Teunis  Jansen  of  1800  the  bitter  and  unsparing 
conservative  of  1820  and  prompted  him  to  such 
severe  measures  with  his  own  son  when  that  eager 
young  voter  sought  to  make  a  hero  and  a  chief- 
tain of  another  rising  and  brilliant  political  leader. 

Martin  Van  Buren,  however,  was  free  from  the 
defects  of  character  that  proved  the  ruin  of  Burr. 
He  was,  however,  a  born  politician  and  he  knew  so 
wisely  how  to  act  and  manage  that  he  held  and 
strengthened  the  following  his  talents  drew  around 
him,  and  was  thus  enabled  to  reach  both  the  goals 
which  Burr  so  nearly  attained  and  so  absolutely 
lost  —  the  governorship  of  New  York  and  the  presi- 
dency of  the  United  States. 

De  Witt  Clinton,  nephew  of  Governor  George 
Clinton,  New  York's  first  executive,  was  destined 
to  make  for  himself  a  greater  name  and  a  deeper 
impress  upon  the  history  of  New  York  State  than 
did  his  illustrious  uncle.  "  He  entered  upon  life,"* 
says  Mr.  Tuckerman,  "  when   the   contest  between 

*De  Witt  Clinton  was  born  March  2,  1769,  and  died  February  11.  182S. 


1 66  EARLY  POLITICAL    STRUGGLES. 

the  two  original  parties  under  the  Federal  govern- 
ment was  at  its  height,  and  closed  his  existence  at 
the  epoch  of  their  virtual  dissolution."  Always 
interested  in  the  development  of  his  native  State 
and  prominent  alike  in  politics  and  in  philanthropy, 
his  course  brought  him  foes  as  bitter  as  his  friends 
were  loyal,  while  the  plans  which  he  advocated 
with  an  enthusiasm  that  was  almost  dictatorial  and 
a  tenacity  of  purpose  that  sometimes  appeared  au- 
tocratic, though  they  conquered  at  last,  did  so  only 
in  the  face  of  opposition  and  prejudice. 

But  still,  through  all  the  strifes  and  changes  of 
politics  and  all  the  vicissitudes  of  war  were  the 
people  of  the  State  of  New  York  strengthening 
their  position  as  the  foremost  commercial  Common- 
wealth in  the  new  union  of  States.  The  very 
stringency  of  markets  and  dearth  of  necessities 
which  the  war  of  1812  with  its  attendant  measures 
of  embargo  and  blockade  entailed  developed  a 
greater  self-reliance  among  the  people  who  were 
the  acutest  sufferers  in  a  conflict  to  which  they 
were  unalterably  opposed  and  yet  in  which  they 
loyally  bore  their  part. 

The  establishment  of  manufactories  for  the  home 
production  of  such  stuffs  as  they  had  hitherto  been 
accustomed  to  import  led  to  a  growing  condition  of 
demand  and  supply,  and  laid  the  basis  of  those 
manufacturing    interests    that  were,    before    many 


EARLY  POLITICAL    STRUGGLES.  1 67 

years,  to  constitute  the  main  strength  and  increase 
of  the  beleao-ured  State.  The  founders  of  the 
modest  woollen  mill  of  Oriskany  and  of  the  crude 
little  cotton  manufactory  at  Whitesborough,  both  of 
which  were  established  because  of  the  desperate 
needs  of  the  people  in  those  days  of  suffering  and 
privation,  builded  wiser  than  they  knew.  For  in 
so  doing  they  all  unconsciously  laid  the  foundation 
of  that  spirit  of  enterprise  and  endeavor  which  led 
to  other  and  greater  establishments  and  resulted  in 
the  present  manufacturing  wealth  of  the  great  State 
of  New  York. 

War,  after  all,  is  a  mixed  evil.  If  it  does  weaken 
and  exhaust,  it  also,  as  surely,  develops  personal 
dependence  and  self-help.  If  it  does  engender 
hatred  and  slaughter,  it  also  creates  a  spirit  of 
comradeship  that,  by  its  very  welding  of  individual 
interests,  strengthens  and  cements  the  bond  of 
mutual  assistance  and  so  gradually  leads  to  that 
better  and  wiser  day  when  arbitration  shall  take 
the  place  of  warfare  and  the  pen  prove,  as  indeed 
it  is,  mightier  than  the  sword. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 


IN     THE     TWENTIES, 


ELL,  my  jolly 
young  Buck- 
tail,  and  what 
do    you   think 
of    your   party 
now  ?  "  was  the 
question    that 
reeted   Teunis    Jansen 
the    younger   as    one 
April    morning    in    the 
year  1824  he  sat  in  his 
little  shop  in  Pine  Street 
and  with  a  clouded  brow 
pored  over  his   copy  of 
the  "  Evening  Post "  of  the  day  before. 

The  reader  looked  from  his  paper  and  met  the 
inquiring  eye  of    his  bluff    old  father. 

"  Dad,"  he  said,  while  an  indignant  flush  red- 
dened on  his  face,  "  it's  an  outrage  !  I'm  your 
man  and  Governor  Clinton's  from  this  day  on. 
It's   the  most  scandalous  piece  of    trickery   I  ever 

168 


IN  THE    TWENTIES.  1 69 

heard  of.  And  so  they'll  find  out  too  before 
they're  a  month  older." 

This  "  scandalous  piece  of  trickery  "  was  indeed 
one  of  which  no  political  party,  however  deeply  it 
was  plunged  in  a  devotion  to  self  and  spoils,  could 
ever  feel  proud.  It  may  seem  a  slight  matter  to 
us  of  to-day,  schooled  to  the  ways  and  wiles  of 
modern  politicians,  but  it  was  far  from  being  a 
slight  matter  then  and  it  resulted  in  one  of  those 
rare  occurrences  which  history  calls  an  "  uprising 
of  the  people." 

The  New  York  legislature  in  the  very  moment 
of  the  dissolution  of  its  session  of  1824  had  un- 
wittingly but  almost  unanimously  passed  a  meas- 
ure, sprung  upon  it,  in  the  hurry  of  adjournment, 
by  shrewd  party  managers  in  a  spirit  of  senseless 
and  vindictive  party  rancor.  This  was  the  removal 
of  De  Witt  Clinton  from  the  office  of  canal  com- 
missioner.    And  thereby  hangs  a  tale. 

With  the  close  of  the  war  of  18 12  the  vast 
resources  and  latent  possibilities  of  the  State  of 
New  York  brought  within  its  borders  a  ceaseless 
stream  of  emigration.  A  round  million  of  people 
found  homes  within  its  borders  and  the  Common- 
wealth sprang  to  the  rank  of  first  in  the  roll  of 
States  in  point  of  population. 

But  the  Empire  State — with  an  area  as  large 
as  that  of  England  —  was  practically  isolated  from 


I  yd  AY  THE    TWENTIES. 

itself.  With  no  system  of  commercial  intercom- 
munication beyond  the  great  white-capped  truck 
wagons,  and  the  cramped  and  limited  stage  coach, 
trade  suffered,  and  any  thing  like  substantial  growth 
was  retarded.  Poughkeepsie  and  Utica,  Albany  and 
Buffalo  were  many  days  apart,  and  a  journey  to  the 
interior  from  the  city  of  New  York  was  as  serious 
a  matter  as  a  modern  trip  to  Europe. 

The  exigencies  of  the  war  just  closed  —  during 
which  the  frontier  line  of  the  State  was  the  scene 
of  bitterly  disputed  contests  —  opened  the  eyes  of 
statesmen,  soldiers  and  students  to  the  need  of  a 
better  system  of  communication  between  the  sea- 
board metropolis  and  the  villages  and  settlements  of 
the  interior  and  the  border.  "  Oh,  for  a  canal  !  " 
had  been  the  cry  again  and  again  during  those 
weary  war-days  as  now  supplies  or  now  news  of 
victory  or  disaster  travelled  slowly  and  spasmodi- 
cally from  town  to  town. 

But,  when  a  need  exists  far-seeing  men  are  ready 
to  appreciate  and  act.  Already  New  York  stood 
acknowledged  by  the  world  as  the  originator  and 
developer  of  steam  navigation.  The  Jansen  boys 
(for  such  is  the  fickleness  of  human  nature)  as  they 
had  been  misbelieving  scoffers  before  his  hour  of 
success,  had  been  also  among  the  most  enthusi- 
astic cheerers  upon  the  sloping  Manhattan  shores 
when  in  1807  Robert  Fulton's  new-fangled  craft  the 


IN  THE    TWENTIES.  171 

Clermont  rounded  the  Battery  and  steamed  slowly 
up  into  the  shadow  of  the  Palisades  on  its  way 
toward  Albany.  That  crude  little  tug  —  whose 
smoke  and  snorting  had  so  startled  one  honest 
countryman  that  he  declared  to  his  wife  he  had 
seen  "  the  devil  on  his  way  to  Albany  in  a  saw- 
mill "  —  rapidly  developed  into  something  more 
practical  and  palatial.  In  18 19  the  Savannah, 
built  in  New  York,  made  the  first  Transatlantic 
voyage  from  Savannah  to  St.  Petersburg  by  way 
of  Liverpool,  and  in  1825  James  Allaire's  steamer, 
the  Sun,  made  the  trip  from  New  York  to  Albany 
in  twelve  hours  and  eighteen  minutes.* 

All  these  advances,  however,  though  they  anni- 
hilated space  where  broad  water-ways  were  available 
were  of  little  benefit  in  opening  up  such  sections 
as  interior  New  York.  Again  and  again  had  the 
construction  of  a  State  canal  been  advocated  and 
attempted.  Christopher  Colles  and  General  Philip 
Schuyler,  Gouverneur  Morris  and  James  Geddes, 
Chancellor  Livingston  and  Robert  Fulton  had 
urged  its  importance  and  worked  in  its  behalf,  but 
no  one  had  succeeded  in  accomplishing  any  thing 
toward  the  desired  end  until  De  Witt  Clinton  had 
thrown  into  the  work  all  the  force  of  his  great 
and  untiring  energy,  and  in  spite  of  disappointment 

*  The  Walk  in  the  Water,  the  first  Lake  steamboat,  was  launched  at  Black  Rock,  near 
Buffalo,  in  May,  181S,  and  made  her  trial  trip  across  Lake  Erie  to  Detroit  in  August  of  that 
year.     The  Ontario,  built  in  1816,  made  her  first  trip  over  the  lake  Ontario  in  April,  1817. 


172  IN  THE    TWENTIES. 

and  rebuff,  of  opposition  and  defeat  had  finally 
succeeded  in  beginning  in  181 7  what  his  opponents 
styled  in  derision  "  Clinton's  big  ditch,"  but  what 
became,  after  its  completion  in  1825,  the  greatest 
American  channel  for  trade  and  emigration  —  the 
Erie  Canal. 

To  succeed  in  the  face  of  bitter  and  persistent 
opposition  is  the  surest  way  to  popularity.  De 
Witt  Clinton's  unswerving  belief  in  the  great  pro- 
ject he  so  vigorously  advocated  won  the  people  to 
his  side  and  the  last  device  of  his  enemies  by 
which,  in  the  legislature  of  1824  and  on  the  very 
eve  of  the  completion  of  his  scheme,  they  deprived 
him  of  his  official  position  as  canal  commissioner 
aroused  the  people  as  they  had  not  been  stirred  for 
years.  There  was  a  rare  tumble  in  politics.  Such 
humble  citizens  and  voters  as  Teunis  Jansen  the 
younger  who  for  years  had  been  fighting  the  party 
of  Clinton  at  the  polls  now  revolted  in  his  favor. 
The  act  of  proscription  was  openly  and  angrily 
denounced  and  as  a  result  of  this  popular  uprising 
Clinton  was  for  the  third  time  elected  governor  of 
his  State  by  what  was  for  those  days  an  enormous 
majority  and  almost  every  man  who  had  directly  or 
indirectly  aided  in  his  overthrow  was  swept  out  of 
office  by  the  votes  of  an  indignant  people. 

The  great  Erie  Canal  with  nearly  one  thousand 
miles  of    lateral   length   and    navigable  feeders  has 


IN  THE    TWENTIES.  1/5 

long  since  been  superseded  in  importance  as  a 
means  of  rapid  internal  communication  by  the  still 
more  remarkable  triumphs  of  the  steam  engine  and 
the  railroad.  But  seventy  years  ago  it  was  a  vital 
question  in  New  York  life  and  politics  and  to  its 
successful  completion  is  due  the  rapid  and  phe- 
nomenal growth  of  Central  New  York,  while  many 
a  thriving  town  and  city  of  to-day  owes  alike  its 
settlement,  its  incorporation,  its  life  and  growth  to 
the  impetus  given  to  trade  and  commerce,  to  im- 
migration and  settlement,  by  "  Clinton's  big  ditch." 

Great  projects  are  the  death  knells  of  great  evils. 
It  is  a  singular  and  significant  fact  that  as  each 
year  brought  still  nearer  to  completion  so  great 
a  work  of  public  benefit  and  practical  progress  as 
the  Erie  Canal,  each  year,  as  surely,  brought  nearer 
to  its  death  the  curse  of  human  slavery  that  for 
full  two  hundred  years  had  rested  upon  the  fair 
name  of   New  York. 

Originally  introduced  for  selfish  ends  by  the 
soulless  monopolists  of  the  Dutch  West  India 
Company  in  the  earliest  days  of  New  Amsterdam, 
slavery  as  an  institution  had  lost  its  hold  as  free- 
dom gained  a  footing.  A  community  of  workers 
has  neither  need  nor  liking  for  enslaved  labor. 
Even  before  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury slavery  in  the  State  of  New  York  was  merely 
nominal  and  the  census  of   1810  showed  less  than 


Ij6^  fJV   THE    TWENTIES. 

twenty  thousand  slaves  to  a  million  of  inhabitants. 
When  faced  with  the  principle  of  free  labor  its 
very  existence,  meagre  as  this  was,  seemed  an 
anomaly  and  an  excrescence. 

Its  continuance  in  the  State  was  never  a  political 
issue.  Its  abolition  was  desired  by  both  parties. 
Alexander  Hamilton,  the  federalist,  was  outspoken 
in  its  condemnation;  Edward  Livingston,  the  anti- 
federalist,  was  equally  its  foe.  It  was  Governor 
John  Jay,  the  democrat,  who  in  the  last  years  of 
the  eighteenth  century  was  president  of  "  The 
Society  for  the  Manumission  of  Slaves,"  and  who 
proposed  the  bill  of  abolition  by  which  the  State 
declared  that  every  child  born  within  the  limits  of 
the  State  after  the  fourth  day  of  July,  1799,  should 
be  forever  free  ;  it  was  Governor  Daniel  D.  Tomp- 
kins, the  republican,  who  gave  the  "  institution  " 
its  death  blow  by  the  recommendation  in  his  annual 
message  of  1817  (the  very  year  in  which  the  first 
spadeful  of  dirt  was  turned  on  the  Erie  Canal)  the 
entire  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  State  of  New 
York  on  and  after  the  fourth  day  of  July,  KS27. 

All  this  is  but  indicative  of  the  popular  desire 
and  the  popular  will.  A  people  really  free  and  pro- 
gressive can  never  abide  the  existence  of  property 
in  men. 

It  is  also  a  significant  fact  that  as  slavery 
decreased    the  desire  for    popular  education    grew 


IN  THE    TWENTIES.  I  77 

strong.     The  thrifty  ways  of  the  old  Dutchmen  of 
New    Amsterdam    although    they    inclined  toward 
the  education  of  the  young  never  permitted  much 
advance  or  gave  to  the  children  of  "  the  people  " 
anything    more    than  the  very   baldest  rudiments. 
The  little    school  of    the    Dutch     "  domine,"  Van 
Olfendam,  who  in  1650  taught  the  children  of  "the 
gentry  "  for  a  fee  of  "  two  beavers  "  per  annum,  did 
give    place  to  the   so-called  "  public  school  "  of   a 
few   years  later,  and    led    to  a  certain    attempt  at 
education  in  the  sparse  river-settlements  of  those 
early  Knickerbockers.     But  with  English  rule  even 
this  crude   attempt    at    education    languished    and 
died  out.      It  was  only  when  freedom  gained  the 
day  that  popular  education    came    at    last.     Grad- 
ually the  horn  book  gave  place  to  the  primer,  the 
primer    to    the    text-book,    and    the    exclusive   and 
pedantic  "  Latin  School  "  of  Stuyvesant's  day  de- 
veloped, thus,  after  many  years,  into  the  common 
school  which  found  in  every  town  and  village  its 
cheerless  but  well-supported  schoolhouse.     Rough 
and  uninviting   as  were    these    early   "temples    of 
learning  "  they  served  a  noble  purpose,  for  within 
their  walls  many  an  embryotic  citizen  learned  the 
rudiments    of    that    practical    education    that    was 
to    help    him  in  time  toward    manlier   duties    and 
aspirations. 

The    conservative    old    Teunis   Jansen   of    1820, 


178  IN  THE    TWENTIES. 

to    be    sure,  pooh-poohed  at  what    he   termed    the 
extravagance  that  insisted  on  giving  to  the  young- 
sters   of    that  day  a  better  "  school-larnin' "    than 
their  fathers  and  mothers  had  obtained,  but  none 
the  less  proud  did  he  feel  when  his  children  and 
grandchildren  showed  proofs  of  intellectual  advance- 
ment.    Still  the  desire  for  learning  grew,  and  the 
five    thousand    schools    of    18 18    showed   how  far- 
seeing  had  been  the  wisdom  of  such  public-spirited 
citizens  as  De  Witt  Clinton,  who  in  1805  became 
the  first  president  of  "  the  Society  for  Establishing 
a  Free  School  in  the  City  of   New  York,"  and  how 
far-reaching  had  been  the  efforts  of  such  men  as 
Governor  Morgan  Lewis,  who,  in  the  same  year  of 
1805,  secured  the  passage  of  an  act  by  which  the 
proceeds  of  the  sale  of  five  hundred  thousand  acres 
of  the  public  lands  should  be  devoted   to  the  ex- 
tension   and  improvement  of    the    common-school 
system   in    the  State.     It    was  to    be   the  fault  of 
the    young    Jansens  of   succeeding   generations   if 
they   fell    short    in    the    matter  of    education    for, 
surely,  the  State  was  nobly  helping  them  to  greater 
possibilities. 

There  was  another  happening  within  that  first 
quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century  which,  although 
the  younger  Jansens  knew  it  not  and  the  older 
ones  scarce  regarded  it,  still  indicated  the  State's 
advance    in    material    and   intellectual    force.     For 


IN  THE    TWENTIES.  I  79 

forty-four  years  the  Constitution  adopted  by  the 
highest  wisdom  of  the  State  had  served  the  pur- 
pose  of  the  growing  Commonwealth,  but  as  intel- 
ligence broadened  and  population  increased  certain 
changes  in  the  bond  that  held  the  people  of  the 
State  in  union  seemed  vital  and  necessary.  A 
constitution  is  a  compact  between  individuals  for 
the  purpose  of  securing  unity  and  is  based  upon 
certain  laws  of  action  and  procedure.  These 
laws,  as  people  progress,  need  certain  modifications 
and  amendments  and  as  their  young  State  grew 
toward  manhood  the  people  of  New  York  appre- 
ciated alike  the  flaws  and  the  weaknesses  that  the 
test  of  time  disclosed  in  their  civil  compact. 

The  first  convention  of  1777,  as  will  be  remem- 
bered, accomplished  its  work  in  the  midst  of  trouble 
and  turmoil  ;  the  boom  of  the  enemy's  guns  was 
scarcely  beyond  ear-shot  while  the  possibility  of 
failure  and  the  punishment  of  treason  loomed  ever 
before  the  eyes  of  its  patriotic  members.  They 
did  their  work  wisely  and  well,  but  even  their  large 
foresight  could  not  apprehend  the  growth  and 
development  of  their  State  during  half  a  century 
of  freedom.  The  convention  of  182 1  revised  and 
altered  many  important  features  of  that  first  con- 
stitution which  experience  had  proved  faulty  or 
insufficient.  It  extended  the  right  of  suffrage,  re- 
formed the  judiciary  system,  abolished  the  council 


I  So  IN  THE    TWENTIES. 

of  appointment  which  had  proved  itself  a  harm- 
ful and  fatal  political  power,  increased  the  powers 
of  the  governor  and  advocated  the  extension  of 
popular  education.  The  new  constitution,  which 
was  formally  ratified  by  the  people  in  February, 
1822,  was  a  marked  advance  upon  the  original 
document,  and  for  twenty-five  years  served  the 
purposes  of  the  citizens  of  the  growing  State 
until  another  revision  in  1846  showed  a  still  further 
advance  in  breadth  and  statesmanship. 

The  literary  growth  of  a  people  occupied  in 
developing  the  resources  and  strengthening  the 
framework  of  a  rising  State  is  necessarily  slow 
and  is  the  last  phase  of  national  or  local  life  in 
which  the  people  themselves  actually  display  an 
interest.  After  the  Revolution  men  began  to  inter- 
est themselves  more  and  more  in  the  circumscribed 
little  newspapers  of  the  day  which  slowly  but 
surely  grew  in  size  and  influence  as  the  people 
gradually  became  readers.  The  younger  Jansens 
found  but  little  beyond  their  own  school  text-books 
to  afford  them  reading  material,  for,  even  as  litera- 
ture advances,  the  requirements  and  the  enter- 
tainment of  the  children  are  the  last  to  secure 
attention.  But,  even  in  the  homes  of  the  people, 
two  young  authors  of  the  early  days  of  the  century 
found  readers  and  admirers.  The  stories  of  James 
Fenimore     Cooper    and    the     graceful     humor    of 


IN  THE   TWENTIES.  l8l 

Irving  penetrated  even  beyond  the  circle  of  "the 
aristocracy "  which  for  far  too  long  a  time  had 
monopolized  not  only  the  refinements  but  the 
enjoyments  of  culture  ;  and,  though  the  readers  bore 
but  a  small  proportion  to  those  who  did  not  read ; 
the  effect  of  the  literary  advance  was  each  year 
a  more  potent  and  apparent  factor  in  the  real 
progress  of  the  State. 

Old  Teunis  Jansen  the  elder  as  he  listened  to 
the  story  of  that  marvellous  character  in  fiction 
"  The  Spy "  grew  interested  and  excited  over  the 
memories  of  the  Revolutionary  times  that  it  in- 
spired, but  he  grew  hot  and  wroth  when  his 
grandson  read  to  him  the  sharp  and  racy  satires 
of  Knickerbocker's  so-called  "  History  of  New 
York." 

"  Who  is  this  Diedrich  Knickerbocker  ?  "  he  de- 
manded.* "  Tis  all  lies,  boy,  lies  that  he  is  telling. 
Would  that  my  grandfather,  old  Teunis,  were  alive. 
I'll  wager  you  he  would  hunt  up  this  scribbler  and 
serve  him  out  roundly  for  his  scurvy  tales.  The 
Heer  Stuyvesant  a  blockhead  and  our  old  Dutch 
forebears  knaves  and  cowards  !  Ach  !  I'll  hear  no 
more  of  it  —  but  —  yes  —  read  on,  lad  —  read  on. 

*"The  Dutch  settlers,"  said  Mr.  Chauncey  M.  Depew,  in  his  address  at  the  Semi- 
centennial Anniversary  of  the  St.  Nicholas  Society  in  1885,  "by  the  magic  pen  of  the  father 
of  American  literature,  became  the  victims  of  a  caricature  which  captivated  the  fancy 
of  the  world,  and  made  the  most  potent  factors  in  the  founding  and  development  of  the 
freedom  and  prosperity  cf  our  country,  the  accepted  subjects  of  good-natured  ridicule  and 
merriment." 


1 82  IN  THE    TWENTIES. 

Let's  hear  what  more  lies  this  blackguard  Knicker- 
bocker can  tell !  " 

The  old  man  "pshawed"  contemptuously  too 
at  what  he  called  the  "  po'try  trash"  of  Drake's 
"  Culprit  Fay."  "  The  idee  of  there  bein'  any  such 
heathen  truck  as  a  fairy  up  among  the  Highlands," 
he  said ;  "  why,  I've  hunted  'em  over,  man  and 
boy,  these  fifty  years,  from  Cro'nest  and  Anthony's 
Nose  to  the  Botterberg  and  Sugar-loaf  and  never 
a  spook  or  fairy  did  I  come  across."  But,  all  the 
same,  the  charming  rhythm  of  Drake's  delightful 
poem  did  have  its  influence  on  the  practical  old 
grandsire,  and  trim  young  Sophie  Jansen  as  she 
read  the  lines  he  saw  fit  to  so  pooh-pooh,  laughed 
slyly  as  she  noticed  her  grandfather  keeping  time 
to  the  rhythm  of  the  "  Culprit  Fay  "  with  finger, 
foot,  or  head. 

But  the  Jansen  family  though  a  type  of  the 
"people"  of  their  clay  were  to  a  certain  degree 
above  that  type  in  their  love  of  books  and  reading. 
The  reading  habit  had  not  yet  secured  the  hold 
upon  the  masses  that  later  years  brought  it  and 
though  in  some,  even  humble  homes,  the  works  of 
Cooper  and  Irving,  of  Drake  and  Halleck,  of  Bryant 
and  Verplanck,  of  Brown  and  Sands  and  Hoffman 
and  other  now  unknown  and  forgotten  writers  were 
alike  familiar  and  popular  the  "  literary  following  " 
was    in   a   measure    limited.      The    bookstore    was, 


IN  THE    TWENTIES.  1 85 

however,  gradually  becoming  a  feature  in  social 
growth,  and  in  many  a  small  town  and  thriving  vil- 
lage the  bookseller,  with  the  doctor,  the  "domine," 
the  judge  and  the  schoolmaster,  was  one  of  the 
recognized  "  authorities."  Books  were  then  too 
few  to  be  ranked  as  other  than  high  and  honorable 
merchandise.  They  were  luxuries,  accessible  only 
to  the  more  fortunate,  and  while  there  was  too 
apparent  a  lack  of  the  desire  for  culture  among 
the  people  in  general,  there  was  also,  perhaps, 
too  much  of  a  certain  churlishness  of  possession 
among  the  booksellers  themselves,  reminding  one 
of  Charles  Lamb's  "  stall-man  "  who  cries  out  to  a 
penniless  reader  in  his  book-shop  :  — 

"  You  sir,  you  never  buy  a  book, 
Therefore  in  one  you  shall  not  look." 

But  each  little  village  had  its  coterie  of  culture  and 
in  all  such  circles  the  local  bookseller  was  both 
mentor  and  oracle.  In  considering  the  growth 
of  intelligence  in  our  land  we  are  far  too  apt  to 
forget  the  bookseller  of  sixty  years  ago  as  one  of 
its  leading  and   most  honored  factors. 

The  glimpse  which  N.  P.  Willis  gives  us  of  a 
winter  at  Fleming  Farm  among  "  the  imprisoned 
inhabitants  of  Skaneateles  "  in  the  Lake  region  of 
the  State,  hints  at  this  growing  culture  in  even 
remote  and  isolated  sections.  He  tells  of  the  old 
library   of   the    Flemings  — "  a    long   room    in   the 


1 86  IN  THE    TWENTIES. 

southern  wing  of  the  house,  a  heavily  curtained, 
dim  old  place,  with  deep-embayed  windows,  and  so 
many  nooks  and  so  much  furniture  that  there  was 
that  hushed  air,  that  absence  of  echo  within  it, 
which  is  the  great  charm  of  a  haunt  for  study  or 
thought."  The  Flemings,  he  says,  "  amused  them- 
selves during  the  deep  snows  of  winter  with  a  man- 
uscript '  Gazette  '  which  was  contributed  to  by  every 
body  in  the  house,  and  read  aloud  at  the  breakfast- 
table  on  the  day  of  its  weekly  appearance."  Such 
intellectual  pleasures,  he  affirms,  were  not  alto- 
gether appreciated  by  the  "  indigenous  beaux  of 
Skaneateles,"  but  it  was  in  just  such  homes  that  the 
intellectual  growth  of  the  State  was  developed  and 
fostered.  From  just  such  a  home,  in  Plattsburg 
on  Lake  Champlain,  came  that  most  precocious 
of  American  girls — Lucretia  Davidson.  "Their 
home  pleasures  and  excitements,"  says  her  biogra- 
pher, "  were  all  intellectual,  and  her  father's  well- 
selected  library  was,  at  all  times,  the  dearest  solace 
of  his  daughter." 

Another  element  in  this  intellectual  growth  was 
one  which  appealed  still  more  directly  to  the 
people  and  affected  an  even  larger  number  than 
did  the  reading  habit.  This  was  the  Sunday 
school.  The  Jansens  and  their  class  were  faith- 
ful church-goers.  Old  Teunis  Jansen,  like  his 
forefathers  had  ever  been  a  constant  attendant  at 


IN  THE    TWENTIES.  1 87 

his  church.  To  have  missed  a  Sabbath  service 
would  have  been  almost  a  felony,  and  his  children 
and  grandchildren  followed  in  his  footsteps — fol- 
lowed by  force  of  habit  and  home-training  perhaps 
more  than  because  of  any  individual  thinking  or 
desire,  but  followed  unquestioningly  and  dutifully. 
With  thousands  of  men  and  women,  the  church 
was  the  centre  of  social  life,  and  when  in  181 2  the 
first  Sunday  school  in  New  York  was  opened  by 
Mrs.  Bethune  and,  later,  in  Greenwich  village,  other 
similar  schools  speedily  followed,  the  older  people 
questioned  the  wisdom  of  such  an  experiment  but 
its  success  was  soon  beyond  dispute.  De  Witt 
Clinton,  foremost  in  helpful  public  measures,  gave 
his  support  to  the  new  plan  of  spiritual  education 
and  the  Sunday  school  soon  became  an  established 
church  auxiliary,  gradually  adopted  by  every  de- 
nomination and  obtaining  each  year  a  stronger 
and  securer  footing  throughout  the  growing  State. 
Side  by  side,  the  common  schools  and  the  Sunday 
school  were  doing  a  great  and  noble  work  in  the 
formation  and  development  of  the  minds  and  char- 
acter of  the  children  of  the  State. 

So  the  first  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century 
drew  toward  its  close.  And  in  the  very  year  that 
opened  the  second  quarter,  in  October,  1825,  the 
people  of  the  entire  State  of  New  York  knew  with 
pride  and  pleasure  that  their  greatest  work  had  been 


1 88  IN  THE   TWENTIES. 

accomplished,  that  the  longest  canal  in  the  world 
had  been  constructed  within  their  domain  and  they 
prepared  to  celebrate  its  opening  in  enthusiastic 
holiday  fashion.  On  the  morning  of  October  26, 
just  eight  years  and  three  months  from  the  date  of 
commencement,  the  "  palatial  "  canal  boat  Seneca 
Chief  with  a  special  passenger-list  of  notables 
started  from  Buffalo  on  its  way  to  New  York  and 
the  open  sea ;  all  along  the  route  were  welcome, 
rejoicing  and  festivity. 

"  Who  comes  there  ?  "  was  the  hail  from  the 
deck  of  a  little  boat  at  the  stone  aqueduct  of 
Rochester. 

"  Your  brothers  from  the  West  on  the  waters  of 
the  Great  Lakes,"  was  the  reply. 

"  By  what  means  have  they  been  diverted  so  far 
from  their  natural  course  ?  "  came  the  question 
from  the  little  boat. 

"  Through  the  channel  of  the  Great  Erie  Canal," 
was  the  ready  answer. 

"  By  whose  authority,  and  by  whom,  was  a  work 
of  such  magnitude  accomplished  ?  "  demanded  the 
challenger,  and  from  the  pioneer  canal  boat  came 
the  proud  reply,  "  By  the  authority  and  by  the 
enterprise  of  the  people  of  th*  State  of  New 
York." 

Cannons  boomed  and  music  sounded  a  welcome, 
fireworks  and  illuminations  lighted   up  the  nights, 


IN  THE    TWENTIES.  1 89 

and  all  along  the  line  eager  spectators  thronged  the 
banks  of  the  canal  to  view  the  pageant  and  greet 
the  Seneca  Chief.  At  Utica  the  Jansens  who 
were  in  the  family  line  of  that  adventurous  young 
Isaac  who,  sixty  years  before,  had  been  one  of 
the  pioneers  of  the  Mohawk  valley  in  Sir  William 
Johnson's  day,  cheered  lustily  at  the  boat  that  was 
to  float  down  toward  their  kinsmen  by  the  sea. 
Albany  was  one  blaze  of  welcome,  and  on  the 
fourth  of  November,  nine  days  after  its  depart- 
ure from  Buffalo,  the  Seneca  Chief,  with  a  great 
naval  escort,  amid  the  thunder  of  cannon,  the  ring- 
ing of  bells,  and  the  sounds  of  stirring  music, 
floated  on  past  the  greatest  city  of  the  State. 

"  Where  from  and  whither  bound  ?  "  came  the 
hail  of  New  York  City  from  the  deck  of  the 
steamboat  Washington. 

"  From  Lake  Erie,  bound  for  Sandy  Hook," 
rang  out  the  answer,  and  then  where  the  waters 
of  the  broad  bay  mingle  with  those  of  the  greater 
ocean  the  chief  promoter  of  this  vast  enterprise, 
Governor  De  Witt  Clinton,  standing  on  the  deck 
of  the  Seneca  Chief  poured  into  the  Atlantic  from 
a  gilded  keg  the  waters  of   Lake  Erie. 

"  May  the  God  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth," 
he  said  solemnly,  "  smile  most  propitiously  on  this 
work,  accomplished  by  the  wisdom,  public  spirit, 
and   energy   of   the   people    of    the   State   of   New 


190  IN  THE    TWENTIES. 

York,  and  may  He  render  it  subservient  to  the  best 
interests  of  the  human  race." 

It  was  a  day  of  festivity  and  rejoicing.  We, 
who,  at  this  later  day,  witness  each  year  the  com- 
pletion of  work  that  is  at  once  more  marvelous 
and  more  far-reaching  than  the  completion  of  a 
great  ditch  on  which  to  float  boats  of  merchan- 
dise and  produce  may  not  esteem  the  work  of  our 
grandfathers  of  such  moment  as  did  they,  but 
neither  human  ingenuity  nor  human  energy  can 
give  to  the  world,  in  view  of  all  the  circumstances, 
of  all  the  hinderances  and  of  all  the  ends  it  served 
a  grander  work  than  was  this  now  prosaic  and 
almost  forgotten  Erie  Canal. 

Such,  even  then,  the  people  felt  it  to  be  and  such 
we  may  be  sure  did  all  the  Jansens  regard  it  as, 
old  and  young,  they  cheered  the  pageant  and  were 
themselves  a  part  of  it,  or  watched  with  wonder  and 
delight  the  mighty  display  of  fireworks  and  illumi- 
nation that  lit  up  the  City  Hall  at  New  York  and 
reflected  the  joyous  glare  upon  the  upturned  faces 
of  the  throne:  that  gathered  about  it. 

It  was  a  fitting  time  for  old  Tennis  Jansen  to 
pass  away.  His  eighty  years  of  life  represented  the 
old  regime  that  was  likewise  to  pass  away  with 
him,  giving  place  to  an  era  of  change  and  progress, 
far  removed  from  the  staid  and  soberer  ways  in 
which  he  had    been    reared.     His  generation    had 


IN  THE    TWENTIES.  191 

made  a  nation.  His  descendants  were  to  mag- 
nify and  develop  it,  and  when  he  passed  off  the 
sphere  of  life  and  action  even  while  the  notes  of  re- 
joicing over  a  great  work  accomplished  still  echoed 
in  the  air  there  died  with  him  the  era  of  struggle, 
of  labored  methods  and  of  slowly  achieved  results. 
With  the  opening  of  the  second  quarter  of  the 
nineteenth  century  the  story  of  Modern  New  York 
was  begun. 


CHAPTER    IX. 


PROGRESS    AND    DISASTER. 


HOSE  distant 
cousins  of  the 
Teunis  Jansen  of 
1825  who,  near  the 
Utica  line,  had 
cheered  on  the 
Seneca  Chief  as  that  pio- 
neer canal  boat  traversed 
the  new  water-way  to 
the  sea,  had,  by  that  time, 
grown  to  be  reckoned  as  "old  settlers"  in  the 
Mohawk  region.  They  were  indeed  inclined  to 
look  with  all  the  superiority  of  sons  of  the  soil 
upon  the  new  comers  whom  the  completion  of  the 
canal  attracted  to  their  picturesque  section. 

For,  as  has  already  been  intimated,  the  facilities 
afforded  by  the  completion  of  the  Erie  Canal  led, 
almost  immediately  to  a  great  "  real  estate  boom  " 
throughout  Central  New  York.  That  fertile  and 
attractive  section  over  which,  for  years,  the  war- 
like   Iroquois    had    roamed   as   lords    and    for    the 

192 


PROGRESS  AND   DISASTER.  1 93 

mastery  of  which  England  and  France  had  quar- 
reled and  fought  was  no  longer  a  dangerous  and 
unproductive  border-land.  Each  new  year  was 
making  it  the  home  of  a  thrifty  and  enterprising 
folk  —  emigrants  from  neighboring  States  or  across 
the  sea.  There  were  certain  subsidized  highways 
or  fair  "State  roads  "  through  the  northern,  central 
and  southern  counties,  while  the  ease  of  access 
and  transportation  which  the  new  canal  afforded, 
together  with  the  excellence  of  the  soil  and  its 
evident  possibilities  more  than  offset  the  uncertain 
title  of  the  new  lands  and  the  risks  attendant  upon 
corporate  or  speculative  proprietors. 

That  these  risks  were  by  no  means  imaginary 
the  later  history  of  the  State  attests.  The  troubles 
that  they  occasioned  form  not  only  a  unique  but 
a  dramatic  episode  in  the  story  of  New  York. 
Probably  in  no  other  State  in  the  Union  did  the 
unwritten  law  of  feudal  tenure  have  such  a  last- 
ing hold  upon  the  people  or  lead  to  so  much  pro- 
test and  disturbance.  Thousands  of  acres  within 
the  limits  of  the  State  had,  since  the  days  of  the 
patroons  —  the  earliest  of  American  monopolists  — 
remained  in  the  hands  of  the  descendants  of  those 
land  barons  of  the  Colonial  days  who  rarely  sold 
and  invariably  leased  to  occupants  and  tenants. 
Sir  William  Johnson  was  said  to  have  been,  next  to 
William  Penn,  the  largest  landholder  in  America, 


194  FRO  GUESS  AND  DJSASI'JER. 

while  families  like  the  Van  Renssalaers  (the  upa- 
troons"  of  Albany),  certain  foreign  capitalists  and 
the  direct  descendants  of  the  colonial  governors 
held  tenaciously  to  the  large  tracts  that  had  been 
acquired  by  inheritance  or  nominal  purchase.  The 
Holland  Land  Company  —  an  association  of  Dutch 
speculators  —  had,  since  1790,  controlled  millions 
of  acres  in  Central  New  York  and  similar  though 
smaller  corporations  had  acquired  title  to  vast  tracts 
of  land  which  they  disposed  of  to  settlers  on  lease- 
holds or  on  long  credits. 

The  thousands  of  emigrants  who  settled  upon 
these  attractive  lands  and  proceeded  to  open  and 
develop  them  thought  only,  at  first,  of  the  ease  of 
their  purchase,  giving  but  little  heed  to  the  future 
and  to  the  complications  that  their  acquisitions 
would  involve.  But  when,  after  years  of  occupa- 
tion, they  became  attached  to  their  home-sites  and 
considered  the  improvements  that  they  had  made 
and  the  advance  in  value  which  their  labor  had 
caused  they  grew  restive  under  a  continued  obliga- 
tion to  the  monopolistic  proprietors.  These  feudal 
lords,  however,  held  alike  tenants  and  debtors  to 
their  unwise  agreements,  and  insisted  on  certain 
rights  and  obligations  in  rent  or  service  that  were 
galling  to  a  people  pledged  to  personal  independ- 
ence. Awaking  at  last  to  their  insecurity  tenants 
and  debtors  alike  protested  against    an   invasion  of 


PROGRESS  AND  DISASTER.  1 95 

what  they  deemed  they  had  made  their  own  by 
the  right  of  ceaseless  thrift  and  industry.  They 
combatted,  defended  and  appealed,  and,  not  un- 
frequently,  added  to  legal  protest  open  and  aggres- 
sive resistance. 

But  the  first  rush  of  new-comers  that  followed 
the  opening  of  the  Erie  Canal  thought  little  of 
these  future  complications,  although  many  of  the 
"old  settlers"  whom  they  found  already  in  occupa- 
tion grumbled,  complained,  and  made  dark  fore- 
casts of  future  antagonisms.  They  thronged  the 
straggling  settlements  along  the  line  of  the  canal, 
they  started  new  communities  on  unoccupied  lands, 
or,  striking  off  from  the  pathway  of  canal  and  state 
road  scattered  their  new  home-centres  over  all  the 
rolling  farm  lands  and  forest  tracts  that  stretched 
from  the  banks  of  the  Hudson  to  the  shores  of 
Erie  and  Ontario.  Utica  and  Rome,  Oswego  and 
Syracuse,  Rochester  and  Buffalo  grew  at  once  from 
struggling  communities  into  corporate  villages  and 
towns,  while  smaller  places  vied  with  each  other 
for  prominence  or  recognition  as  growing  centers. 
Up  and  down  the  canals  floated  the  comfortable 
and  capacious  canal-boats  —  the  passenger  packets, 
or  "  line-boats  "  —  often  gay  in  decoration  and  ap- 
pointments, drawn  sometimes  by  four  or  five  horses, 
tandem,  and  often  making  the  astonishing  speed 
of  six  miles  an  hour!      "A  trip  by  packet,"  says 


196  PROGRESS  AND   DISASTER. 

Mr.  Roberts,  "survives  in  the  memory  of  many 
as  a  pleasurable  gliding  between  banks  of  beauty, 
sometimes  romantic,  presenting  constant  changes 
of  scene,  with  berths  at  night  inclosed  in  curtains 
in  the  single  cabin,  and  quite  as  comfortable  as, 
if  less  swift,  than  a  journey  in  the  modern  palace 
cars."  * 

It  was  to  try  one  of  these  very  packet-trips  by 
canal  that  our  friends  the  Jansens  of  New  York 
set  out  from  their  city  home  in  1827.  Moved  by 
an  intelligent  curiosity  and  the  reports  as  to  the 
marvelous  growth  of  Central  New  York  that  had 
floated  down  the  river  to  the  metropolis,  Teunis 
Jansen  and  his  wife  Vroutje  (she  was  a  Van  Houten 
of  Haverstraw  and  still  held  to  the  old  Dutch 
names  and  many  of  the  good  Dutch  ways  of  her 
ancestors)  started  one  August  morning  upon  a 
pleasure  trip  as  far  westward  as  Rochester  where 
dwelt  certain  of  the  distant  kinsmen  of  the  Jansen 
blood. 

To  indulge  in  such  "  idle  vanities  "  as  a  vacation 


*  This  was  the  romance  of  canal-travel.  But  we  have  good  evidence  that  the  "  slow- 
moving  barge"  had  really  little  of  romance  about  it.  "  I  made  my  journey,"  writes  Horace 
Greeley  of  one  of  these  same  canal  trips  to  Western  New  York  in  1827,  "  by  way  of  the  Erie 
Canal  on  those  line  boats  whose  '  cent  and  a  half  a  mile,  mile  and  a  half  an  hour '  so  many 
yet  remember.  Railroads,  as  yet,  were  not;  the  days  passed  slowly  yet  smoothly  on  those 
gliding  arks,  being  enlivened  by  various  sedentary  games;  but  the  nights  were  tedious  beyond 
any  sleeping-car  experience.  At  daybreak  you  were  routed  out  of  your  shabby,  shelf-like  berth, 
and  driven  on  deck  to  swallow  fog  while  the  cabin  was  cleared  of  its  beds  and  made  ready  for 
breakfast.  I  say  nothing  as  to  the  '  good  old  times  ; '  but  if  any  one  would  recall  the  good  old 
line  boats  I  object.  ...  I  trust  I  have  due  respect  for  '  the  good  old  ways  '  we  often  hear  of ; 
yet  I  feel  that  this  earthly  life  has  been  practically  lengthened  and  sweetened  by  the  invention 
and  construction  of  railroads." 


PROGRESS  AND   DISASTER.  1 97 

was  in  those  days  an  almost  unheard-of  luxury ;  to 
take  a  vacation  trip  was  the  very  height  of  extrava- 
gance. But  Teunis  was  learning  some  new  things 
as  he  watched  the  progress  of  events,  and  not  the 
least  practical  of  these  was  a  sensible  reading  of 
the  maxim  respecting  the  effect  of  all  work  and 
no  play. 

And  so  it  happened  that  on  an  August  morning 
in  1827  Teunis  and  his  good  wife  stood  on  the  deck 
of  one  of  the  river  steamers  as  it  steamed  slowly 
away  from  the  dock  near  Whitehall  and  headed 
toward  Albany. 

It  was  still  the  day  of  small  things  for  the  me- 
tropolis.*  Its  population  was  considerably  less  than 
two  hundred  thousand,  and,  although  the  entire 
island  had  been  theoretically  laid  out  (on  paper) 
in  streets  and  avenues  as  early  as  181 1,  the  town 
itself,  in  1827,  barely  extended  above  Canal  Street. 
Villas  and  farmlands  still  sloped  clown  to  the  river's 
edge,  and  the  clustering  roofs  of  the  surburban 
villages  of  Greenwich  and  Chelsea  (now  known  as 
the  populous  regions  about  Greenwich  avenue  and 
West  Twenty-third  Street  and  long  since  swal- 
lowed up  by  the  growing  city)  could  be  seen  across 

*"  No  single  railway  pointed  toward  her  wharves.  No  line  of  ocean  steamers  brought 
passengers  to  her  hotels,  nor  goods  to  her  warehouses,  from  any  foreign  port.  In  the  mer- 
cantile world  her  relative  rank  was  higher,  but  her  absolute  importance  was  scarcely  greater 
than  is  that  of  Rio  Janeiro  or  San  Francisco  to-day  (1867).  Still,  to  my  eyes,  her  miles  square 
of  mainly  brick  or  stone  houses,  and  her  furlongs  of  masts  and  yards,  afforded  ample  incite- 
ment to  a  wonder  and  admiration  akin  to  awe."  —  Horace  Greeley's  first  visit  to  New  York. 
(•831) 


198  PROGRESS  AND  DISASTER. 

the  intervening  tree-tops.*  Yonkers  and  Peekskill, 
Newburgh  and  Poughkeepsie  were  scarcely  more 
than  river-side  villages,  while  Hudson,  with  its 
silent  docks, t  —  indications  of  an  earlier  prosperity 
—  seemed  almost  a  city  in  comparison. 

Albany  was  reached  at  sunset.  It  was  then  a 
city  of  some  twenty  thousand  inhabitants,  clinging 
still  to  many  of  the  old  Dutch  ways  and  customs 
that  its  solid  citizens  had  observed  ever  since  the 
earlier  days  of  Beaverwyck  and  Fort  Orange. 

From  Albany  the  canal  packet  started,  and  soon 
the  travellers  were  floating  westward  at  the  rapid 
rate  of  some  five  miles  an  hour,  quiet  but  apprecia- 
tive witnesses  of  the  industry,  the  growth  and  re- 
sources of  their  native  State.  Past  town  and  village 
and  little  log  settlement  they  floated  —  from  Troy 
to  Utica,  from  Rome  to  Syracuse,  and  so  came  at 
last  to  their  kinsmen  at  Rochester,  fully  assured 
that  Governor  De  Witt  Clinton  was  indeed  a  great 
man,  and  that  the  State  of  New  York  was  a 
mightily  enterprising  commonwealth. 

*  Both  these  suburban  villages  have  occupied  a  unique  and  peculiar  position  in  the  story 
of  Manhattan  Island.  Gradually  absorbed,  in  spite  of  their  own  protests,  by  the  resistless 
and  ever-growing  metropolis  they  still  preserved  for  many  years  an  identity  of  their  own  all 
the  more  marked  because  so  absolutely  futile.  The  years  have  silenced  the  protests  and 
engulfed  the  identity.  "  Chelsea  Village,"  says  Mr.  Bunner,  one  of  the  most  charming  of 
New  York's  later  annalists,  "has  never  had  the  aggressive  exclusiveness  of  Greenwich.  It 
exists  to-day  (18S8),  and  vaguely  knows  itself  by  name,  close  to  the  heart  of  the  great  city 
that  has  swallowed  it  up  ;  but  it  is  in  nowise  such  a  distinct  entity  as  the  brave  little  tangle  of 
crooked  streets  a  few  blocks  to  the  south.  Greenwich  has  always  been  Greenwich,  and  the 
'  ninth  ward'  his  been  the  centre  of  civilization  to  the  dwellers  therein." 

t  Hudson  at  one  lime  was  a  busy  whaling  port  and  owned  more  shipping  than  did  New 
York  City  itself.  Its  promising  commerce  was  destroyed  by  the  embargo  of  1812,  which  so 
seriously  affected  other  places. 


PROGRESS  AND  DISASTER.  199 

And  all  along  the  route,  from  New  York  City 
to  Rochester,  Teunis,  the  observer,  and  the  good 
Vroutje,  his  wife,  found  that  but  two  topics  of  con- 
versation appeared  to  interest  and  absorb  their 
fellow-passengers.  These  were,  the  vast  possibili- 
ties of  Central  New  York,  and  the  effect  of  the 
Morgan  mystery  upon  New  York  politics. 

For  politics  in  New  York  State  were  drifting 
into  the  strangest  complications.  Only  a  year  be- 
fore there  had  died  on  the  fourth  of  July,  1826, 
Thomas  Jefferson  and  John  Adams — "author  and 
champion,  respectively,  of  the  great  Declaration," 
and  the  party  names  of  federalist  and  anti-federalist 
were  like  these  old-time  leaders,  reminders  only  of 
the  past.  Already,  in  1825,  was  Andrew  Jackson 
recognized  as  the  "  coming  man,"  and,  in  the  State 
of  New  York,  Martin  Van  Buren,  "  the  most  adroit 
politician  of  his  time,"  was  a  leading  and  a  vital 
force.  Parties  were  hopelessly  mixed.  There  were 
Clintonian  Adams  men,  and  Democratic  Adams 
men  (supporters  of  the  president,  but  rivals  in  State 
politics);  there  were  the  Clintonians  of  the  In- 
dependents, or  "  People's  Party,"  and  the  Bucktails, 
who  voted  at  the  nod  of  that  autocratic  power  in 
New  York  politics  known  as  the  "  Albany  Re- 
gency"; there  was  the  small  but  aggressive  anti- 
Masonic  party  and  this,  though  sounding  absurd 
and  needless  enough  to  our  ears  to-day,  well-nigh 


200  PROGRESS  AXD   DISASTER. 

overturned  the  whole  State.  For  the  anti-Masons 
rose  to  prominence  through  a  "  mystery "  as  pe- 
culiar as  it  was  perplexing  and  dramatic. 

One  William  Morgan  of  Batavia,  a  member  of 
the  secret  society  known  as  Free  Masons  was 
charged  with  threatening  to  disclose  the  secrets 
of  that  organization.  Suddenly  he  disappeared 
and  was  never  after  seen  alive.  Startling  rumors 
spread.  The  defenders  and  opponents  of  the 
Masonic  fraternity  were  drawn  into  a  bitter  quarrel. 
Then  came  the  climax.  Morgan's  body,  so  it  was 
claimed,  had  been  flung  into  the  Niagara  River  by 
his  enraged  fellow  Masons.  A  mutilated  body  drawn 
from  the  river  was  declared  to  be  that  of  Morgan 
—  or,  at  least,  to  be  "  a  good  enough  Morgan  until 
after  election."*  The  feud  filled  the  State.  What- 
ever the  truth  of  the  matter,  whatever  the  guilt 
or  innocence  of  the  various  parties  to  this  singu- 
lar quarrel,  one  thing  is  certain  :  the  fate  of  this 
recreant  Mason  brought  about  a  tremendous  ex- 
citement;  it  created  factions  and  engendered  feuds; 
it  entered  very  largely  into  local  and  State  poli- 
tics ;  it  very  nearly  destroyed  the  prospects  of  some 
of  the  political  leaders  and  highest  officials  of  the 
State.       Even    so    popular    and     acknowledged    a 

*  Mr.  Greeley  declares  in  his  "Recollections,"  forty  years  after  the  Morgan  and  Anti- 
Masonic  excitement,  that  Thurlow  Weed  never  made  this  long-famous  remark  and  that  the 
charej  *jrainst  Mr.  Weed  to  the  effect  that  he  had  manipulated  the  body  of  a  drowned  man 
i(Tf  political  purposes  was  an  "utterly  groundless  calumny,  having  barely  a  shred  of  badinage 
to  pafliate  its  utterance." 


>A'„J,\v 


:-:SH 


>^3o£fdonAi^f^^rr   -        ___j- 


PEOPLE   WERE    ALL    EITHER    MASONS    OR    ANTI-MASONS. 


PROGRESS  AND   DISASTER.  203 

statesman  as  Governor  De  Witt  Clinton  himself, 
because  of  his  Masonic  connections  and  his  exalted 
rank  in  the  order,  fell  under  suspicion,  and  was 
made  the  victim  of  groundless  charges.  And  it 
was  thus  that  still  another  disturbing  element  in 
the  tangled  politics  of  the  State  was  introduced 
by  the  organization,  under  the  name  of  the  Anti- 
Masonic  party,  of  those  "  who  were  determined  to 
destroy  the  institution  of  Freemasonry "  and  who 
felt  that  they  "  could  not  express  their  sentiments 
with  so  much  force  and  effect  in  any  other  way 
than  through  the  ballot-box." 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  all  this  excitement  that 
our  friends,  the  Jansens,  made  their  canal  trip  to 
Rochester.  People  were  all  either  Masons  or 
anti-Masons,  talk  ran  hot  and  high,  and  "  the 
literature  of  the  period,"  says  Mr.  Roberts,  "  was 
as  harrowing  as  a  series  of  sensational  novels." 

Teunis  Jansen  had  inherited  the  Dutch  reticence 
of  his  ancestors ;  discreetly  holding  his  tongue, 
he  listened  to  the  charges  and  recriminations 
bandied  about  by  the  partisans  of  either  side  and 
silently  drew  his  own  conclusions. 

And  yet,  reticent  and  slow  though  he  was,  he 
was  one  of  the  thousands  who,  attracted  by  the 
vigor,  the  ability,  and  the  personal  magnetism  of 
"  the  hero  of  New  Orleans,"  General  Andrew 
Jackson,  cast  former  party  affiliations  to  the  wind 


204  PROGRESS  AND  DISASTER. 

and,  disdaining  in  the  maze  of  political  combina- 
tions any  other  judgment  than  that  of  enthusiasm 
huzzaed  loudly  for  "  Old  Hickory,"  and  helped 
give  him  in  1828  the  electoral  vote  of  New  York 
and  the  final  majority  that  placed  him  in  the 
presidential  chair.  But,  so  uncertain  a  quantity  is 
popular  feeling  when  the  day  for  actual  decision 
comes,  in  spite  of  all  the  talk  and  all  the  threaten- 
ings  over  the  Morgan  affair  the  vote  of  the  Anti- 
Masonic  party  of  New  York  in  the  election  of  1828 
was  but  thirty-three  thousand  three  hundred  and 
forty-five  out  of  a  total  ballot  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty-six  thousand  seven  hundred  and  ninety-four. 
The  dominating  force  in  New  York  State  was 
now  Martin  Van  Buren,  whom  men  called  for  his 
shrewdness  and  his  success  "  the  little  magician." 
The  election  of  1828  placed  him  in  the  Governor's 
chair.  In  that  same  year  died  his  greatest  rival  and 
New  York's  foremost  statesman,  De  Witt  Clinton. 
Four  times  governor  of  his  native  State,  whatever 
affected  her  interests  or  seemed  a  prophecy  of 
her  future  prosperity  received  from  Clinton  en- 
couragement, labor  and  zeal.  "  The  Pericles  of 
our  Commonwealth,"  said  George  Griffin,  one  of 
the  dead  statesman's  most  eloquent  eulogists,  "  for 
nearly  thirty  years  he  exercised,  without  stooping 
to  little  arts  of  popularity,  an  intellectual  dominion 
in  his  native  State  scarcely  inferior  to  that  of  the 


PROGRESS  AND  DISASTER.  205 

illustrious  Athenian  —  a  dominion  as  benignant  as 
it  was  effective."  With  the  faults  and  shortcom- 
ings incident  to  power  and  popularity  De  Witt 
Clinton,  nevertheless,  attained  and  still  holds  al- 
most if  not  quite  the  foremost  position  among  New 
York's  greates-t  names.  His  memory  is  one  that 
all  New  Yorkers,  all  Americans,  indeed,  should 
cherish,  and  there  is  truth  if  there  is  also  a  strain 
of  adulation  in  Mr.  Tuckerman's  estimate  of  the 
man.*  "  To  those  alive  to  local  history  and  the 
origin  of  great  practical  ideas,"  he  says,  "  daily 
observation  keeps  fresh  the  memory  of  De  Witt 
Clinton  in  his  native  State.  As  a  stranger  enters 
her  unrivalled  bay,  he  sees  in  the  fortified  Narrows 
a  proof  of  Clinton's  forethought ;  in  an  afternoon 
excursion  the  Bloomingdale  Asylum  and  Sailor's 
Snug  Harbor,  whose  endowment  he  secured,  bear 
witness  to  his  benevolent  enterprise ;  while  the 
grand  systems  of  public  instruction,  of  mutual  in- 
surance, of  internal  navigation,  of  savings  banks, 
reform  of  the  criminal  law  and  agricultural  im- 
provement,  however  modified  by  the  progress  of 
science,  constantly  attest  the  liberal  and  wise  polity 
which  under  his  guidance  gave  them  birth.  .  .  . 
The  method  of  his  statesmanship,"  continues  Mr. 
Tuckerman,  "  was  thoroughly  American  —  instinct 

*  See  "  De  Witt  Clinton  ;  the  National  Economist "  in  Henry  T.  Tuckerman's  "  Biogra- 
phical Essays,"  Boston,  1857. 


io6  PROGRESS  AND  DISASTER. 

with  republican  courage  and  directness,  above  con- 
siderations of  gain,  mainly  cognizant  of  prospective 
good,  undisturbed  by  the  dictum  of  faction.  And 
now  that  the  watchwords  of  party  are  forgotten 
and  the  ravings  of  faction  have  died  away,  his 
noble  presence  stands  forth  in  bold  relief,  on  the 
historical  canvas  of  his  era  as  the  pioneer  of  the 
genius  of  communication,  whose  magic  touch  has 
already  filled  with  civilized  life  the  boundless 
valleys  of  the  West,  then  an  untracked  forest ;  as 
the  Columbus  of  national  improvement,  and  the 
man  who  most  effectually  anticipated  the  spirit  of 
the  age,  and  gave  it  executive  illustration." 

But  if  Columbus  had  his  La  Casa  —  "a  mariner," 
so  the  records  assure  us,  "  scarcely  inferior  in  his 
own  estimation  to  the  admiral  himself"  —  so  had 
De  Witt  Clinton  his  Martin  Van  Buren.  "An 
adroit  and  subtle,  rather  than  a  great  man,"  says 
Mr.  Greeley,  "  his  strength  lay  in  his  suavity." 
Always  a  partisan  and  a  politician  he  yet  had 
ability  and  tact  sufficient  to  create  for  himself  a 
strong  and  loyal  personal  following  and  to  make 
the  leader  to  whom  he  attached  himself  at  once  his 
patron  and  his  debtor.  As  he  had  climbed  to  power 
in  his  own  State  by  a  politic  manipulation  of  the 
varying  popularities  of  De  Witt  Clinton  (both  as 
supporter  and  foeman,  as  follower  and  rival),  so 
he  owed  his  wider  eminence  to  his   partisanship  for 


PROGRESS  AND   DISASTER.  207 

Jackson  whose  enthusiastic  henchman  he  became 
when  the  flood  of  popular  favor  caught  that  imperi- 
ous soldier.  "  Had  there  been  no  Jackson,"  says 
Mr.  Greeley,  "  Van  Buren  would  never  have  attained 
the  highest  office  in  the  gift  of  his  countrymen." 

For  to  that  office  he  did  attain  in  1836,  and 
until  that  time  he  continued  to  stand  as  the  chief 
figure  in  the  politics  of  New  York  and  one  of  the 
most  popular  of  Americans.  But,  during  all  these 
years  of  his  ascendancy,  though  outwardly  pros- 
perous the  State  was  really  storing  up  trouble  for 
the  days  to  come.  Immigration  steadily  increased 
and  New  York  City,  as  Mrs.  Lamb  expresses  it, 
"  appeared  like  a  youth  much  overgrown  for  his 
years.  It  had  shot  up  with  a  rapidity  that  defied 
calculation.  Wealth  was  increasing  faster  than 
sobriety  was  inclined  to  measure.  Swarming  mul- 
titudes from  every  quarter  of  the  globe  were  render- 
ing the  community  in  a  certain  sense  unformed." 

Thus  although  population  grew  progress  was 
not  healthy.  And  no  State  felt  this  unsettled  con- 
dition more  seriously  than  did  New  York.  The  de- 
mand was  less  than  the  supply.  Skilled  mechanics 
like  the  sons  of  Teunis  Jansen  found  work  hard  to 
obtain  and  uncertainly  paid.  "  As  a  journeyman," 
says  Mr.  Greeley,  speaking  of  the  period  around 
1830,  "  I  could  rarely  find  work  in  the  country  be- 
cause there  was  so   little  money ;   and   on  coming 


2o8  PROGRESS  AND   DISASTER. 

to  the  city  I  found  that  payments  by  master  me- 
chanics to  their  men  were  mainly  made  in  uncurrent 
notes  of  State  banks  which  must  often,  if  not  sen- 
e rally,  be  taken  to  a  '  broker '  and  shaved  before 
they  would  pay  board  or  buy  groceries."  Then 
arose  the  trouble  between  President  Jackson  and 
the  banks,  a  trouble  which  because  of  the  stringency 
it  caused  in  the  money  market  fell  with  especial 
severity  upon  the  people,  who,  having  but  little, 
felt  the  pressure  most  keenly. 

In  that  same  year  (1832)  came  the  cholera 
scourge.  It  swept  over  the  city  of  New  York 
like  a  plague  and  during  the  three  summer  months 
that  it  held  the  crowded  and  careless  metropolis  in 
its  death-grip  more  than  three  thousand  people 
died  of   this  fell  disease. 

It  was  a  sorry  time  for  such  humble  folk  as  the 
Jansens.  Money  was  too  scarce  to  make  flight 
from  town  possible,  and  work  was  hard  to  get 
within  the  pest-ridden  city.  Whole  streets  were 
barricaded  against  the  approach  of  the  plague  as 
if  it  were  some  tangible  foe  and  death  and  distress 
found  entrance  into  many  a  home. 

"  In  every  house,  in  every  office  and  shop,1'  says 
Mr.  Bunner,  describing  the  reign  of  terror,  "there 
was  hasty  packing,  mad  confusion  and  wild  flight. 
It  was  only  a  question  of  getting  out  of  town  as 
best  one  might.     There  was  only  one  idea,  and  that 


PROGRESS  AND   DISASTER.  2O9 

was  flight  —  from  a  pestilence  whose  coming  might 
have  been  prevented,  and  whose  course  might  have 
been  stayed.  To  most  of  these  poor  creatures  the 
only  haven  seemed  to  be  Greenwich  Village ;  but 
some  sought  the  scattered  settlements  above ;  some 
crossed  to  Hoboken ;  some  to  Bushwick ;  while 
others  made  a  long  journey  to  Staten  Island,  across 
the  bay.  .  .  .  There  were  some  who  remained 
faithful  throughout  all  and  who  labored  for  the 
stricken,  and  whose  names  are  not  even  written  in 
the  memory  of  their  fellow  men.  Flight  and  fright 
alike  carried  with  them  contagion  and  death,  and 
the  pest  that  wasted  the  chief  city  of  the  State 
left  its  traces  also  along  the  trail  of  the  fleeing 
fugitives." 

It  is  such  things  as  these  that  dishearten  the 
ignorant,  and  develop  disorder  and  crime  among 
the  unthinking.  The  cosmopolitan  character  of 
New  York  City,  as  it  has  been  its  chiefest  blessing 
has  also  been  its  bane.  As  early  as  these  days  of 
1832  when  hard  times  and  a  fatal  disease  alike 
harrassed  the  town  did  this  disorderly  element 
display  itself.  Street  brawls  and  riots  attended 
every  election  while  every  move  made  by  philan- 
throphy  was  confronted  by  lawless  ignorance.  An 
unformed  community  is  always  a  restless  one  and 
when  composed  of  so  many  nationalities  race  pre- 
judices and  race  antagonisms  are  as  certain  to  occur 


2IO  PROGRESS  AND   DISASTER. 

as  are  unpleasant  relations  between  employer  and 
employed  or  between  idleness  and  occupation. 

And  here  again  is  seen  the  point  of  separation 
between  the  people  and  the  rabble  referred  to  in 
an  earlier  chapter.  The  people  turn  protest  into 
action  only  when  their  liberties  are  actually  in  dan- 
ger; the  rabble  is  ready  to  rise  upon  opportunity 
rather  than  upon  provocation.  It  was  the  rabble 
that  turned  election  day  into  a  time  of  brawl  and 
riot,  and  became  disorderly  and  murderous  with 
equal  unreasonableness  when  wise  men  sought  by 
sanitary  restrictions  to  stamp  out  the  dreadful 
cholera,  when  Masonic  halls  were  built,  when  abo- 
litionist meetings  were  in  session  or  when  stone, 
quarried  by  convicts,  was  used  in  the  erection  of 
public  buildings. 

Out  of  the  jumble  and  whirl  of  politics  there 
came  in  1828  two  leading  parties  —  the  Democrats 
and  the  National  Republicans;  the  first,  ardent  sup- 
porters of  Jackson,  the  second,  halting  adherents  of 
John  Quincy  Adams  and  carrying  now  for  the  first 
time  the  distinctive  party  names  that  have  clung 
to  them  ever  since.  In  the  case  of  the  latter,  how- 
ever, their  names  ranged  from  Whig  to  Liberty  men, 
from  Free  Soilers  to  Abolitionists  and  fluctuated 
under  the  stress  of  various  issues  from  conserva- 
tism to  aggressive  resistance.  The  power  of  Clay, 
as  a  factor  in  opposition,  was  asserting  itself  with 


AFT  Lit    THE    FIRE    OF     35 


PROGRESS  AND   DISASTER.  213 

just  sufficient  force  to  make  him  a  rival,  but  not 
a  candidate  within  his  own  party,  while  the  over- 
shadowing popularity  of  Jackson  made  the  presiden- 
tial elections  of  that  period  in  American  history,  in 
New  York  as  in  other  States,  rather  the  fights  of 
factions  than  the  struggle  of  two  opposing  parties. 
"  Out-manceuvred  on  every  side,"  says  Mr.  Greeley, 
"  the  Republicans  wTere  clearly  foredoomed  to  de- 
feat." The  vital  question  of  Protection  and  Free 
Trade  were  just  springing  into  controversy  and  the 
election  of  Jackson  in  the  campaign  of  1828  was  by 
a  majority  that  carried  every  electoral  vote  south 
of  the  Potomac  and  west  of  the  Alleghanies.  With 
these  Jackson  States  went  New  York.  The  coun- 
ties of  New  York,  Westchester,  Dutchess,  Ulster, 
Orange,  Delaware  and  Greene  giving  all  heavy 
Jackson  majorities,  while  his  total  majority  in  the 
State  was  upwards  of  fifty-three  hundred. 

All  this  indicated  something  more  than  mere 
partisanship.  It  was,  indeed,  the  opening  of  a  new 
era.  As  one  observer  has  well  stated  it  "  a  new 
generation  was  growing  up  under  new  economic 
and  social  conditions,  despising  traditions  and  Old 
World  ways  and  manners."  Andrew  Jackson  was 
a  typical  American  and  his  success  was,  in  a 
measure,  the  success  of  American  principles.  It 
is  a  significant  fact  that  this  same  period  marked 
the  introduction  of  two  important  elements  in  the 


214  PROGRESS  AND   DISASTER. 

growth  of  cities  and  of  States  —  the  adaptation  of 
horse-railroads  for  the  streets  of  cities  and  the  use 
of  steam  as  a  motive  power. 

The  first  steam  locomotive  was  built  in  New 
York  City  in  1830,  for  use  on  a  South  Carolina 
railway,  and  the  railroad  from  Albany  to  Schenec- 
tady, incorporated  in  1826,  was  put  in  operation  in 
1832.  That  same  year  the  first  horse-railroad  was 
built  upon  Fourth  Avenue,  and  these  novel  and 
speedier  modes  of  locomotion  were  but  the  indica- 
tion of  the  emancipation  of  the  people  from  old- 
time  methods  and  manners. 

With  this  spirit  of  progress  came,  however,  the 
spirit  of  speculation  —  alluring,  promising  and  de- 
ceptive. Money,  freed  from  a  long  existing  pres- 
sure by  the  political  and  financial  complications 
that  threw  the  Federal  deposits  into  the  State 
banks,  suddenly  grew  "  easy  "  and  abundant,  and 
all  classes  were  affected  by  what,  at  last,  proved  to 
be  "  a  factitious  but  seductive  semblance  of  pros- 
perity." Hard-working  men  in  humble  life,  like 
the  younger  Jansens,  had  visions  of  real  estate 
ventures  that  promised  a  fortune,  and  embarked 
their  small  savings   in  various  attractive  schemes. 

A  new  city  was  planned  and  building  lots 
"boomed"  to  an  extravagant  figure  in  Harlem, 
where  years  after,  lines  of  grass-grown  streets: 
marked   alike  the  ruin  of    folly  and  the  graves   of 


PROGRESS  AND   DISASTER.  215 

blasted  hopes.  Other  places,  too,  caught  the  wild 
fever  and  in  the  newer  sections  of  the  State  this 
false  advance  in  land  values  was  especially  notice- 
able. Real  estate  rose  so  rapidly  in  and  about 
Buffalo  that  one  man  in  Black  Rock  (now  a  part 
of  Buffalo)  who  had  purchased  a  piece  of  land  for 
two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  saw  its  value  increase 
within  a  single  hour,  from  six  thousand  to  twenty 
thousand  dollars  and  disposed  of  it  for  this  latter 
sum.  Such  fevers  of  speculation  were  destined  to 
turn  men's  heads  and  dull  their  soberer  reason.  The 
spirit  of  hazard  became  general.  Fictitious  for- 
tunes induced  a  spasm  of  business.  Employment 
became  easy  and  wages  increased,  trade  and  manu- 
factures grew  in  bulk  and  profits,  and  the  people 
boasted  of  their  increase  and  saw  no  shadow  of 
approaching  disaster. 

The  population  of  the  State  had  risen  to  a 
total  of  over  two  millions  in  1835,  two  hundred 
and  seventy  thousand  of  this  total  belonging  to 
New  York  City  alone.  Building  operations  were 
extensive,  property  steadily  increased  in  value, 
culture  and  refinement  were  accompanying  this 
apparent  prosperity  when  suddenly  in  1835  came 
the  first  blow.  New  York  City  on  the  night  of 
December  16,  was  visited  by  a  terrible  fire  that 
destroyed  property  valued  at  more  than  eighteen 
millions  of  dollars,  laid  eighteen  acres  of  city  lands 


210  PROGRESS  AND   DISASTER. 

in  ruins  and  swept  away  nearly  seven  hundred 
buildings.  Industries  were  paralyzed,  every  insur- 
ance company  in  town  was  made  bankrupt,  and 
this  disaster  to  the  capital  city  was  felt  by  the 
entire  State  to  which  the  metropolis  was  at  once 
both  feeder  and  factor. 

"  O,  no,  father,  it's  not  quite  as  bad  as  that ! " 
said  Teunis  the  younger  to  Teunis  the  elder,  as  on 
the  morning  succeeding  the  great  fire  they  stood 
surveying  the  smoking  ruins.  "  What  is  the  use 
of  preaching  trouble  ?  It  is  a  terrible  blow,  but 
New  York  is  rich  enough  and  strong  enough  to 
look  this  loss  squarely  in  the  face  and  build  up 
again,  even  greater  than  before." 

"  May  be,  lad,  may  be,"  said  the  older  man,  shak- 
ing his  head  doubtfully,  "  but  I  tell  you  we're  not 
so  rich  as  you  think.  There's  such  a  state  of  the 
case  as  having  too  much  of  a  good  thing,  and  I 
tell  you  we've  been  living  too  fast.  We  have  for- 
gotten that  to  succeed  one  must  make  haste  slowly." 

"O  pshaw,  don't  be  a  croaker!"  over-confident 
youth  replied  to  the  warnings  of  age.  "  There  is 
money  and  pluck  enough  here  to  build  New  York 
up  better  than  it  was  before.  You  will  see.  But 
we  must  have  more  water  in  the  town  if  we  expect 
to  head  off  such  a  fire  as  this  again." 

The  young  man  was  in  a  measure  correct.  The 
people  of  New  York  set  to  work  at  once  to  repair 


PROGRESS  AND   DISASTER.  21  J 

the  ravages  of  the  fire,  and  "with  almost  miraculous 
energy  the  city  was  rising  from  its  ashes  "  when 
the  truth  of  the  elder  Jansen's  prophecy  was  all  too 
fully  established. 

For  in  1837,  when  Martin  Van  Buren  became 
President  of  the  United  Sates,  and  Andrew  Jackson 
"  retired  to  his  Hermitage  congratulating  himself 
that  he  left  the  American  people  prosperous  and 
happy"  the  crash  came.  Everything  conspired  to 
disaster.  Crops  were  poor  and  importations  heavy; 
manufactories  were  stopped  and  trade  became  stag- 
nant; the  tide  of  speculation  ebbed  even  more 
swiftly  than  it  had  risen ;  bankruptcy  and  loss  of 
employment  fell  alike  upon  capitalist  and  laborer, 
and  the  general  government  instead  of  helping  in  a 
time  of  distress,  increased  the  disaster  by  arbitrary 
and  crippling  decisions.  "  Thousands,"  says  Mr. 
Greeley,  "  who  had  fondly  dreamed  themselves  mil- 
lionaires, or  on  the  point  of  becoming  such,  awoke 
to  the  fact  that  they  were  bankrupt,"  and  those  of 
less  exalted  expectations  found  their  small  invest- 
ments swept  away  or  involved  in  the  general  ruin. 

The  blow  of  financial  disaster  fell  with  intense 
severity  upon  New  York  City  and  State.  The 
people  suffered  in  pride  as  well  as  in  purse,  and, 
with  true  human  instincts,  looking  for  a  cause  of 
their  trouble  fastened  it  not  upon  themselves,  but 
upon  their  rulers.     Their  local  elections  proved  this 


2lS  PROGRESS  AND   DISASTER. 

popular  revulsion.  Alike  in  metropolis  and  village, 
in  cross-road  settlement  and  country  town  the  same 
deep  murmurings  were  heard,  and  capitalist  and 
laborer,  blind  to  their  own  share  in  the  universal 
disaster,  breathed  out  threatening  against  their 
constituted  representatives.  "  Under  the  generally 
accepted  rule,"  says  Mr.  Doty,  in  his  History  of 
Livingston  County,  "  that  the  party  in  power  is 
responsible  for  all  existing  evils,  the  Democratic 
party  was  held  responsible  for  this  wide-spread  dis- 
tress and  business  stagnation,  and  its  nominees 
were  thus  rendered  unpopular.  This  tendency  of 
popular  judgment,"  declares  Mr.  Doty,  "has  ever 
been  a  marked  feature  of  our  political  system,  and 
while  it  may  and  undoubtedly  does  sometimes  work 
injustice  to  party  leaders  and  organizations  it  also 
acts  as  a  wholesome  check  upon  the  abuse  of  power 
or  the  neglect  of  manifest  public  duty."  Popular 
judgment,  rendered  quick  and  hot-tempered  by  this 
panic  of  '37,  sought  less  for  reasons  than  for  scape- 
goats. Van  Buren  no  longer  the  idol  of  the  people 
received  now  only  revilings  and  censure  and  what 
was  termed  "the  rumblings  of  a  political  earth- 
quake "  were  felt  throughout  the  Union  and  the 
State.  The  man  touched  in  pocket  becomes  an 
engine  of  discontent.  A  people,  thus  stricken, 
forgets  justice  in  anger. 


CHAPTER   X. 


A     GROWING     STATE 


HEN  Teunis 
J  a  n  se  n,  in 
common  with 
thousands  of 
his  equally 
u  nf  o  rtunate 
fellow-country- 
men, pulled 
himself  to- 
gether after 
the  crash  and 
ruin  of  that 
disastrous  year 
of  1837,  he  found  that  life  must  practically  be  com- 
menced over  again  —  a  work  which  at  fifty-five  is 
by  no  means  the  ambition-tinctured  task  that  the 
young  fellow  of  twenty-one  sets  out  upon  with  hope 
and  enthusiasm.  But,  none  the  less  because  it  was 
so  ungracious  a  task,  he  went  at  it  bravely  and  with 
all  that  sturdy  tenacity  that  belongs  to  the  Knicker- 
bocker blood.      Gradually  by  dint  of  struggle  and 

denial  he  began,  as  did  so  many  others  of  equal  will, 

219 


2  20  A    GROWING   STATE. 

to  recover  the  ground  he  had  lost  and  to  coin  the 
sweat  of  labor  into  slow  but  substantial  savings. 

Throughout  the  great  State  that  had  felt  most 
keenly  the  shock,  the  panic  and  the  loss  the  same 
brave  work  went  forward,  and  out  of  the  ruin  of 
fortunes  and  the  wreck  of  homes  a  firmer  and  surer 
basis  for  healthy  financial  growth  was  gradually 
evolved.  Lawmakers  and  capitalists  did  their  part 
toward  atoning  for  the  errors  for  which  they  were 
largely  responsible.  The  toilers  of  every  grade 
men  and  women  alike,  faced  the  inevitable  and  fell 
to  work  at  once.  There  was  much  grumbling  over 
the  situation  and  much  wrathful  criticism  of  those 
who  (so  the  people  thought)  being  at  the  helm 
should  have  guided  the  ship  of  state  more  safely 
through  the  breakers.  But,  even  while  grumbling 
and  criticising,  the  people  everywhere  manned  the 
ropes  and  helped  to  work  the  nearly  stranded  vessel 
into  clear  water  once  more. 

So,  out  of  disaster  came,  gradually,  new  life.  For 
a  young  country  is  as  full  of  possibilities  as  is  a 
young  man,  and  as  quickly  recovers  from  wounds 
and  worriment.  But  the  "political  earthquake" 
hinted  at  in  the  preceding  chapter  came  with  the 
very  next  election.  Out  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  members  of  assembly  (the  most  direct 
representatives  of  the  people)  over  one  hundred 
were  from  the   ranks  of  the  opposition  —  the  new 


A    GROWING   STATE.  221 

following  that,  comprising  all  the  elements  antago- 
nistic to  the  Democratic  party,  took  now  the  name 
of  "Whigs."  The  very  next  year,  in  1838,  the 
Whig  ticket  was  again  victorious  by  a  majority  of 
more  than  ten  thousand,  and  William  H.  Seward 
was  elected  governor  of  the  State.  The  "  Free 
Banking  System "  took  the  place  of  the  former 
monopoly  of  "  pet  banks,"  as  they  had  been  called, 
and  the  people  started  forward  again  on  a  new 
era  of   prosperity.* 

Suddenly,  upon  the  northern  border,  sounded  a 
note  of  war.  It  proved  to  be  of  but  small  moment, 
but  before  its  echoes  died  away  in  defeat  it  stirred 
and  excited  the  people  as  to  what  the  possibilities 
might  be  and  how  the  State  would  fare  in  a  real 
border  war.  Seven  hundred  restless  New  Yorkers, 
led  by  a  descendant  of  the  patroons  of  Renssalaer, 
offered  themselves  as  allies  and  supporters  of  a 
Canadian  revolt  against  England.  The  revolt  came 
to  naught,  but  aggression  and  recrimination  were 
frequent,  and  the  whole  Northern  frontier  seemed 
for  a  time  in  danger.     There  were  one  or  two  sharp 


*  "  History  furnishes  no  parallel,"  Governor  Seward's  first  message  declared,  "  to  the 
financial  achievements  of  this  State.  It  surrendered  its  share  of  the  national  domain  and 
relinquished  for  the  general  welfare  all  the  revenues  of  its  foreign  commerce,  equal  generally 
to  two  thirds  of  the  entire  expenditure  of  the  Federal  Government.  It  has,  nevertheless, 
sustained  the  expenses  of  its  own  administration,  founded  and  endowed  a  broad  system  of 
education,  charitable  institutions  for  every  class  of  the  unfortunate,  and  a  penitentiary  estab- 
lishment which  is  adopted  as  a  model  by  civilized  nations.  It  has  increased  fourfold  the 
wealth  of  its  citizens,  and  relieved  them  from  direct  taxation  ;  and  in  addition  to  all  this,  has 
carried  forward  a  stupendous  enterprise  of  improvement,  all  the  while  diminishing  its  debt, 
magnifying  its  credit,  and  augmenting  its  resources." 


222  A    GROWING  STATE. 

fights  between  the  partisans  of  the  Canadian  "  pa- 
triots "  and  the  British  troops,  some  property  was 
destroyed,  and  American  neutrality  was  maintained 
only  with  difficulty.  Sympathy  with  the  patriots 
was  open  and  almost  aggressive,  and  for  several 
years  the  northern  counties  of  the  State  showed 
by  their  hostile  votes  their  disapproval  of  the 
neutrality  of  the  Van  Buren  administration  in  this 
Canadian  "  strife  for  freedom." 

In  fact  the  Van  Buren  administration  had  fallen 
upon  evil  days,  so  far  as  the  confidence  of  the 
people  was  concerned.  The  voting  public  is  too 
often  a  fickle  one,  and  a  succession  of  unpopular 
actions  turns  friendship  into  hostility.  As  Teunis 
Jansen  drily  observed,  when  one  bright  May  day 
of  1840  his  jubilant  son  Teunis  the  younger,  now 
about  to  cast  his  first  vote,  rushed  into  his  shop 
tossing  his  hat  for  "  Tippecanoe  and  Tyler,  too," 
"  Handsome  is  as  handsome  does,  lad.  Tip  and 
Ty  may  sing  sweet  and  lovely  now,  but  who  knows 
what  their  tune  '11  be  after  election.  'Tis  like  the 
old  Dutch  rhyme  my  grandfather  used  to  have  over: 

'  Peter  he  played  the  violin, 
But  Zebedee  played  the  flute.' 

And  let  me  tell  you,  lad,"  he  added,  "  John  Tyler 
isn't  going  to  play  second  fiddle.  Just  wait  and  see 
which  you'll  have  to  dance  to  —  fiddle  or  flute." 


im 


ANTI-RENTERS    STOPPING    A    SHERIFF. 


A    GROWING   STATE.  225 

And  the  old  voter's  warnings  came  true  sooner 
even  than  he  could  anticipate.  For  when  scarce 
one  month  after  his  occupation  of  the  presidential 
chair,  good  General  Harrison  ("  Log  Cabin "  and 
"  Hard  Cider  "  candidate  of  those  exciting  days)  was 
carried  to  his  grave  "  the  hopes  born  of  his  elec- 
tion," as  Mr.  Greeley  well  says,  "  were  suddenly 
buried  with  him."  The  course  of  Tyler  showed 
him  to  be  obstinate,  perverse  and  unreliable.  Rec- 
reant alike  to  his  own  promises  and  to  the  trust 
that  had  been  placed  in  him  he  deserted  his  former 
adherents  and  supporters  and  "  stood  forth  an  im- 
bittered,  implacable  enemy  of  the  party  which  had 
raised  him  from  obscurity  and  neglect  to  the 
pinnacle  of  power." 

Politics  tumbled  again  and  the  very  men  who 
had  in  1840  shouted  so  lustily  the  party  chorus  — 

"  We'll  hurl  little  Van  from  his  station 
And  elevate  Tippecanoe," 

sought  in  1844  to  replace  their  dethroned  favorite 
upon  the  seat  from  which  they,  themselves,  had 
helped  to  "hurl  "  him. 

But  Van  Buren's  days  as  a  political  leader  were 
numbered.  His  own  partisans  in  other  States  were 
becoming  weary  of  New  York's  political  ascendency. 
With  Henry  Clay  as  an  opponent  the  choice  of  the 
other  party  was   too  strong  to  be  trifled  with,  and 


226  A    GROWING   STATE. 

Van  Buren's  unpopularity  in  the  South  had  in- 
creased rather  than  diminished  with  his  opposition 
to  the  annexation  of  Texas. 

The  power  of  the  "  little  magician  "  was  on  the 
wane.  New  issues  brought  new  leaders  to  the  front. 
Already  the  strife  between  protection  and  free-trade 
—  a  question  upon  which  so  strong  a  mercantile 
State  as  New  York  must  take  a  prominent  stand  — 
was  agitating  the  nation  while  still  another  element 
was  invading  American  politics  —  the  party  of  uni- 
versal freedom.  Born  in  obscurity  and  cradled  in 
contumely,  the  weak  and  universally-proscribed  abo- 
lition party  of  1840,  in  spite  of  the  fanaticism  of  its 
organizers  and  the  unpopular  ways  of  its  leaders, 
was  to  bring  forward  the  one  burning  issue  of  a 
later  day,  absorbing  all  other  questions  and  drawing 
sharp  dividing  lines  between  Truth  and  Error. 

In  common  with  all  the  Northern  States  New 
York  was  profoundly  affected  by  this  disturbing 
element.  Its  votes,  like  those  of  other  protests, 
swollen  by  a  union  with  such  other  elements  of 
local  opposition  as  the  Anti-Masons,  Anti-Renters, 
and  their  kin  grew  to  be  of  sufficient  importance 
to,  at  first,  only  threaten  the  majority  vote,  next 
to  weaken  it  to  a  plurality  and  finally  to  become 
from  a  disturbing  clement,  simply,  a  balance  of 
power  party  and  a  victorious  majority.  In  the  elec- 
tion of  1840,  Gerrit  Smith,  the  Abolition  candidate 


A    GROWING   STATE.  227 

for  governor,  polled  a  vote  of  2662  ;  in  1844  Birney, 
the  Abolition  candidate  for  president,  had  in  New 
York  State  a  vote  of  15,812  ;  in  1848  when  (so 
strange  is  the  whirligig  of  politics)  the  very  Van 
Buren  who  was  once  its  foe  became  its  standard- 
bearer,  the  anti-slavery  element  —  become  now  by 
a  coalition  of  oppositions,  the  "  Free  Soil  party  " 
—  polled  a  vote  of  120,497  (larger  by  six  thousand 
than  the  Democratic  vote  in  the  State)  and  be- 
coming the  Republican  party  in  1856  carried  the 
State  by  a  plurality  of  eighty  thousand  and  a 
popular  vote  for  Fremont  of  276,007.  This  re- 
markable advance  meant,  however,  not  so  much 
the  growth  of  abolition  sentiment  as  the  growth 
of  anti-slavery  principles.  It  indicated  the  love 
of  the  people  of  New  York  for  personal  liberty, 
and  their  protest  against  anything  like  Southern 
dictation.  Conservative  by  nature  they  looked 
with  distrust  on  anything  like  radical  measures. 
As  Teunis  Jansen  the  elder  said  to  Teunis  the 
younger,  when  in  1848  father  and  son  separated 
in  politics  —  the  one  voting  for  General  Taylor 
the  other  for  Van  Buren  —  the  one  a  straight- 
out  Whig,  the  other  a  "  Free  Soiler,"  "  Let  slavery 
alone,  lad,  it  will  work  its  own  death;  fight  its  ex- 
tension if  you  will,  but  don't  meddle  with  it  in  the 
States  where  it  still  lives." 

To  which  Teunis  the  younger  replied,  "  Progress 


228  A    GROWING   STATE. 

means  action,  father.  We  can't  let  this  thine 
alone,  for  it  won't  let  us  alone.  I  am  not  sure, 
but  I  am  willing  to  go  even  farther  than  the  Free 
Soil  platform  and  stand  by  the  declaration  of  the 
Buffalo  abolitionists :  '  No  slave  States  and  no 
slave  territory ! '  " 

For  this  was  the  day  of  "bolts"  and  breaks, 
and  there  was  quite  as  much  sense  as  sound  in 
the  reiterative  "Bolters'  chorus"  which  a  younger 
brother  of  Teunis  broke  into  as  he  overheard  the 
declarations  of  his  elder.  This  chorus,  be  it  known, 
was  very  popular  with  the  dissatisfied  ones  of  that 
day,  and  was  sung  from  New  York  to  Niagara, — 

"  Bolt,  bolters,  bolt ; 
Bolt  all  around, 
Bolt  every  clay, 
And  bolt  again  in  the  morning." 

Another  protest,  though  of  less  importance  in  a 
national  sense,  found  expression  at  this  time  in  New 
York  politics.  Certain  kinsmen  of  the  Jansens  who 
were  descendants  of  those  adventurous  younger  sons 
who  in  earlier  days  had  gone  as  pioneers  to  the  fair 
but  undeveloped  sections  of  Central  New  York,  now 
found  themselves  joining  with  neighbors  and  new- 
comers in  a  final  stand  against  the  last  assertions 
of  feudalism  —  rentals  for  lands  which  the  people 
themselves  had  reclaimed  and  developed.  The 
gloomy  forecasts    of    the  earlier    settlers  to  which 


A    GROWING   STATE.  229 

reference  was  made  in  a  former  chapter  now  be- 
came facts,  and  throughout  the  northern  section  of 
the  State  tenants  were  protesting  against  the  en- 
forcement of  what  they  deemed  unjust  claims,  and 
loudly  demanded  an  absolute  limit  to  hereditary 
leases  and  an  abolition  of  all  feudal  tenures.  Per- 
manent leaseholds  (the  property  of  descendants  of 
the  first  great  families  who  had,  by  the  favor  or  the 
cupidity  of  royalty,  possessed  themselves  of  vast 
tracts  of  undeveloped  land)  they  declared  to  be 
"feudal,  aristocratic  and  unrepublican."  Protest 
was  changed  into  action,  resistance  to  the  collec- 
tion of  rents  became  open  and  aggressive,  and  the 
Anti-Rent  war  of  1S44  was  the  people's  protest 
against  an  unwise  and  tyrannical  landlordism. 

And  it  does,  indeed,  seem  both  absurd  and  un- 
American.  To  demand  of  tenants  who  had  already, 
in  one  sense,  purchased  the  land,  even  such  a 
feudal  fee  for  the  privilege  of  living  upon  it  as 
the  annual  payment  of  a  good,  fat  chicken  or  a 
handful  of  wheat  was  of  itself  so  unpatriotic  that 
the  last  and  best  of  the  "  patroons,"  the  Stephen 
Van  Renssalaer  of  Revolutionary  times,  gave  over 
the  collecting  and  demanding  it.  His  descend- 
ants, however,  were  foolish  enough  to  insist  not 
only  upon  the  re-establishment  of  this  ancient 
fee,  but  upon  the  collection  of  the  long-standing 
arrearage.     Thereupon  the  tenants  resisted.     The 


230  A    GROWING   STATE. 

"  Helderberg  War  "  of  1839  was  inaugurated  among 
the  occupants  of  the  Van  Renssalaer  estates  and 
similar  action  by  other  landlords  gave  rise  to  similar 
disturbances.  In  Albany  and  Columbia,  in  Dela- 
ware and  Schoharie  counties  resistance  developed 
into  rioting  and  bloodshed,  where  "  Anti-Renters  " 
disguised  as  Indians  openly  attacked  and  "  disci- 
plined "  agents,  collectors  and  sheriffs.  At  last 
the  military  were  called  out  to  maintain  the  peace, 
political  capital  was  made  of  every  disturbance 
and  succeeding  governors  sought  to  so  compromise 
matters  as  to  adjust  the  antagonisms  between  land- 
lord and  tenant.  This  often  serious  and  sometimes 
picturesque  phase  of  New  York  history  which  at 
one  time  bid  fair  to  become  another  instance  of 
"embattled  farmers"  resisting  aristocratic  oppres- 
sion, was  for  several  years  a  stirring  feature  in 
State  politics,  and  was  only  finally  disposed  of  when 
in  1846  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  the  State 
of  New  York  abolished  forever  all  feudal  tenures 
and  freed  the  fertile  fields  of  New  York's  fairest 
agricultural  section  from  the  baronial  burdens  that 
had  so  long  hampered  its  best  development.  To- 
day New  York  is  one  of  the  six  States  in  the  Union 
which  forbids  alien  landlordism  within  its  limits, 
while  even  resident  aliens  can  hold  real  estate  only 
by  becoming  naturalized  citizens. 

But,  spite  of  canal  and   State  turnpike  and  the 


A    GROWING   STATE.  23I 

continual   tide  of  immigration,  some  of  the  fairest 
portions  of  the  great  State  were  still,  in  1840,  little 
better  than   wild  country  where,  as  Mr.  Beers  de- 
scribes it,  "  the    farmer  was  still  something  of  the 
settler,  and  the   axe   and   plough  were  both  imple- 
ments of  husbandry."      It  needed  something  more 
vigorous  and  pushing  to   make  their  partial  wilder- 
ness accessible  ;  and  this  came  at  last.     In  1S31  the 
first  railroad  in   New  York  State  (the  Mohawk  and 
Hudson)  was  opened.     It  ran  between  Albany  and 
Schenectady,  a  distance  of  seventeen  miles.     In  1832 
the  Saratoga  and  Schenectady  road  was  opened,  cov- 
ering a  distance  of  twenty-one  miles.     That  same 
year  one  mile  of  the  New  York  and   Harlem   Rail- 
road was  operated.    Slowly  but  steadily  the  iron  trail 
grew.     The  New  York  and  Erie  Railway,  chartered 
in  1832,  was  opened  to  travel  on  its  eastern  section 
(from  Piermont  to  Goshen)  in    1841,  and  along  its 
entire  length  (from    Piermont,  westward),  in    185 1. 
The  New  York  Central   and   Hudson   River  Rail- 
road was  in  operation  between  Albany  and  Buffalo 
in  1 84 1,  and  between  New  York  and  Buffalo  in  1851. 
These  great   roads  with   their  tributary  branches 
did  more  than  anything  else  for  the  internal  growth 
and   development  of  the  State,  but   their  advance 
from    crude    and    comfortless    accommodations    to 
their  present  high  state  of  excellence  was  slow  and 
painful. 


232  A    GROWING   STATE. 

Helped  on  by  all  such  plans  of  public  improve- 
ment the  State  grew  apace.  Its  population  in 
1845  had  reached  2,604,495  and  the  city  which  was 
now  not  only  its  metropolis,  but  was  the  metropolis 
of  America  as  well,  claimed  371,223  as  its  share  of 
that  two  and  a  half  millions  —  one  seventh  of  the 
entire  population. 

The  Jansens  were  proud  of  the  great  and  grow- 
ing city  in  which  they  were  such  humble  units. 
Who  is  not  ?  It  is  local  and  civic  pride  that  make 
of  our  cities  vigorous  and  ambitious  corporations, 
that  beautify  and  adorn  them  and  cause  each  citizen 
to  see  in  his  own  town  the  very  top  and  crown  of 
municipal  excellence.  Even  our  rivalries  are  our 
regenerators  —  they  keep  us  from  going  backward. 
So  the  Jansens  in  1845,  like  their  good  u forebear" 
of  two  centuries  before,  bluff  old  Anthony  Yer- 
renton,  were  proud  of  their  native  city.  It  was 
crowding  up  now,  toward  Greenwich  village  and 
Murray  Hill.  Bleecker  and  Bond  Streets  were  its 
fashionable  quarters,  and  about  the  gray  stones  of 
the  New  York  University  the  residence  of  wealthy 
merchants  overlooked  the  city's  latest  park.  The 
restless  and  dissatisfied  ones  of  king-ridden  Europe 
entered  through  its  beautiful  bay  as  into  a  promised 
land,  and,  along  either  river  front,  forests  of  masts 
pointed  skyward  in  proof  of  the  city's  growing  com- 
merce.    "  From  tin's  point  up,"  wrote   N.  P.  Willis 


A    GROWING   STATE.  233 

in  the  early  "  forties,"  as  standing  on  the  bend 
by  the  Battery  he  looked  northward  along  the 
Hudson  River  front,  "  extends  a  line  of  ships,  rub- 
bing against  the  pier  the  fearless  noses  that  have 
nudged  the  poles  and  the  tropics  —  an  array  of 
nobly-built  merchantmen,  that,  with  the  association 
of  their  triumphant  and  richly-freighted  comings 
and  goings,  grows  upon  my  eye  with  a  certain  maj- 
esty." And  proud  as  were  the  Jansens  of  their  own 
great  city  equally  proud  and  loyal  were  the  workers 
and  home-livers  in  the  other  leading  cities  of  the 
State  in  that  middle  portion  of  the  busy  nineteenth 
century.  Albany  could  boast  her  fifty  thousand 
inhabitants,  and  Troy  her  twenty-eight  thousand. 
Oswego  and  Utica,  Syracuse  and  Rochester  were 
crowding  toward  or  past  the  score  of  twenty  thou- 
sand, Buffalo  had  already  more  than  forty-two 
thousand  people  who  called  her  pleasant  streets 
their  own,  and  Brooklyn,  sister  city  of  the  metrop- 
olis, pressed  close  upon  a  round  one  hundred  thou- 
sand. Within  the  borders  of  the  State  also  fashion 
had  its  Mecca  about  the  very  spot  where,  a  century 
before,  the  colonial  baron,  Sir  William  Johnson,  had 
been  borne  for  relief  in  sickness  by  his  Indian  allies. 
For  fully  a  century  it  had  lain  among  its  hills  for- 
gotten save  for  its  stirring  record  of  Revolutionary 
strife  and  victory,  and  then,  so  says  Mr.  N.  P. 
Willis,  "  a  roving  mineralogist  tasted  the  waters  of 


234  A    GROWIXG   STATE. 

Saratoga;  and,  like  the  work  of  a  lath-and-plaster 
Aladdin,  up  sprang  a  thriving  village  around  the 
fountain's  lip,  and  hotels,  tin  tumblers  and  apothe- 
caries multiplied  in  the  usual  proportion  to  each 
other,  but  out  of  all  precedent  with  everything  else 
for  rapidity.  Libraries,  newspapers,  churches,  liv- 
ery-stables and  lawyers  followed  in  their  train ;  and 
it  was  soon  established,  from  the  Plains  of  Abraham 
to  the  savannas  of  Alabama,  that  no  person  of 
fashionable  taste  or  broken  constitution  could  exist 
through  the  months  of  July  and  August  without  a 
visit  to  the  chalybeate  springs  and  populous  village 
of  Saratoga."  It  was  to  Saratoga  that  the  earliest 
railroad  ran,  and  the  "  medicine-spring "  of  the 
Indian  and  the  "  fountain  of  youth  "  of  Sir  William 
Johnson  became,  even  early  in  the  present  century, 
so  says  Willis  again,  "  the  paradise  of  the  unmarried, 
the  Bath  of  America." 

But  it  was  not  for  "  the  people  "  to  indulge  in 
such  luxuries  as  Saratoga  even  then  suo-o-ested. 
Their  outings  and  pleasures  were  few,  their  hours 
of  labor  were  long,  their  home-living  not  alto- 
gether elevating  or  broadening.  Such  homes  as 
Fleming  Farm  or  that  of  the  Davidsons  of  which 
we  have  already  had  a  glimpse  were  not  known 
to  the  majority  of  New  York's  citizens  fifty  years 
ago.  Spite  of  all  the  gushings  of  romance  and 
the  claims  of    idealists  the    daily   life    of    rural    or 


A    NEW    YORK    DANDY    OF    '49. 


A    GROWING   STATE.  237 

suburban  communities  partook,  forty  years  ago,  of 
the  hard  and  restrictive  rather  than  of  the  elevat- 
ing and  broadening  elements.  This  dwarfing  en- 
vironment is  not,  even  yet,  entirely  changed  and 
hence  it  follows  that  the  youth  of  such  sections  look 
toward  the  towns  and  cities  as  goals  where  life's 
ambitions  are  to  be  attained  and  satisfied,  and  with 
a  restlessness  born  of  discontent  are  ever  ready  to 
desert  the  old  home  for  the  struggle  and  success  of 
the  distant  city.  Already,  before  1850,  the  tendency 
was  in  this  direction  and  New  York  city,  in  particu- 
lar, became  the  lodestone  that  drew  not  only  the 
youth  of  its  own  broad  State,  but  the  ambitious  ones 
of  other  States  and  of  Europe's  unsatisfied  masses 
into  the  turmoil  of  its  competitions  and  its  trades. 
Nationalities  were  fusing.  The  American  was 
being  slowly  evolved.  "  Native  American  "  parties 
were  formed  in  vain.  The  spirit  of  a  real  American 
progress  was  antagonistic  to  a  selfish  nativism. 
Steam  which  was  annihilating  space  was  putting  an 
end  to  local  restrictiveness,  and  when  in  1844  came 
the  success  of  the  electric  telegraph,  invented  and 
developed  by  a   New   York  man,*  both  time   and 


*  In  18^5  Morse  successfully  exhibited  the  workings  of  his  telegraph  in  his  own  room  in 
New  York  City  ;  in  September,  1837,  he  publicly  exhibited  a  telegraph  in  operation  in  the 
rooms  of  the  New  York  University,  and  in  1844  Congress  granted  him  thirty  thousand  dollars 
for  the  construction  of  a  wire  between  Baltimore  and  Washington.  On  October  8,  1842, 
he  had  laid  an  experimental  cable  between  Governor's  Island  and  the  Battery,  and  in  1843 
Samuel  Cot  had  successfully  made  the  same  submarine  connection  between  Fire  Island, 
Coney  Island  and  New  York  City. 


238  A    GROWING   STATE. 

space  were  vanquished,  and   isolation  for  any  live 
town  or  community  was  forever  after  impossible. 

The  fierce  fire  of  competition  arouses  all  the  latent 
energy  of  human  nature,  and  the  Knickerbocker 
stock,  of  which  the  Jansens  were  a  type,  and  which, 
despite  the  cosmopolitan  atmosphere  of  the  town, 
had  still  for  many  a  generation  formed  the  basis  of 
New  York  life,  recognized  the  fact  that  this  increas- 
ing competition  meant  less  conservative  measures 
both  in  trade  and  in  manners  or  the  original  stock 
would  be  forced  to  the  wall.  An  influx  of  New 
England  life,  sharp,  ambitious  and  aggressive,  in- 
fused, says  Mr.  Lossing,  "  the  spirit  of  business 
energy  and  thrift  into  the  social  and  commercial 
life  of  the  city  and  the  State  ;  "  ambitious  ones  from 
other  sections  and  from  distant  lands  came,  fired 
with  the  determination  to  succeed,  and  this  com- 
mingling of  conservatism  and  energy,  of  ambition 
and  thrift  introduced  a  new  era  in  trade,  and  estab- 
lished on  still  firmer  lines  the  material  prosperity  of 
the  commonwealth.  Neither  the  blunders  of  politi- 
cal leaders  nor  the  clash  of  political  parties  could 
stay  the  current  of  business  progress  upon  which 
the  State  entered  with  "  the  forties,"  while  the  signs 
of  social  and  intellectual  advance  in  that  same  de- 
cade between  1840  and  1850  were  equally  marked. 
Schools  and  higher  educational  institutions  multi- 
plied.       Reformatory    and    philanthropic    measures 


A    GROWING   STATE.  239 

took  on  a  practical  and  helpful  form  and  the  press, 
alike  of  the  city  and  the  State,  freeing  itself  from 
the  old  time  trammels  of  personalism  and  abuse 
was  growing  into  a  broader  and  more  concordant 
factor  in  the  general  advance. 

This  was  the  result.  But  the  elements  contrib- 
uting toward  that  result  were  as  diverse  and  often 
as  conflicting  as  were  the  nationalities  represented 
in  the  life  of  this  most  cosmopolitan  of  American 
commonwealths.  Political  factions,  trade  rivalries, 
religious  differences,  social  distinctions  —  these  and 
other,  but  fully  as  strong  antagonisms  made  up 
the  reverse  of  this  picture  of  progressive  prosperity. 
The  story  of  New  York  has  its  dark  quite  as  well 
as  its  bright  side,  and  it  is  only  because  its  citizens, 
whatever  their  birth  or  breeding  have  been,  above 
all  else,  so  thoroughly  American  that  they  have 
advanced,  in  spite  of  the  perils  of  both  failure  and 
success,  to  their  present  strong  position. 

The  decade  of  "  the  forties "  drew  toward  its 
close.  New  York,  though  openly  opposed  to  the 
unwarranted  and  aggressive  war  with  Mexico  — 
"  a  scheme  of  gigantic  spoliation  having  for  its  end 
and  aim  the  aggrandizement  of  the  slave  power," 
still  furnished  its  quota  toward  the  army  of  the 
invaders.  Scott  and  Worth  and  Kearney  with 
others  of  equal  bravery  though  of  less  prominence 
displayed  on  Mexican  battle-fields  that  valor  in  war 


-240  A    GROWING   STATE. 

that  has  ever  characterized  the  sons  of  New  York. 
But  the  dash  and  daring  of  such  as  these  did  not 
in  all  the  unbroken  line  of  victories  blind  the  eyes 
of  the  thoughtful  men  of  their  State  to  the  pity  and 
injustice  of  the  forcible  seizure  of  a  province  from 
a  friendly  and  neighboring  power. 

This  decade  was  a  time  of  prosperity  with  the 
Jansens.  Working  along,  quietly  but  determinedly, 
in  their  own  humble  sphere,  seeking  neither  for- 
tune, position,  nor  political  preferment,  they  lived 
the  simple,  manly,  God-fearing  and  upright  lives 
that  were  the  common  lot  of  so  many  of  the  work- 
ers and  laborers  about  them.  Content  with  little 
and  not  expecting  more,  they  made  their  homes 
pleasant  family-centres.  The  little  refinements  and 
the  necessary  cultures  of  our  later  day  may  not 
have  had  place  therein,  but  mind  and  soul  alike 
were  broadening ;  popular  education,  a  growing  in- 
terest in  intellectual  happenings  and  a  wide-awake 
study  of  the  leading  questions  of  the  day  entered 
more  and  more  as  cultivating  influences  to  help,  to 
expand  and  to  instruct.  After  all,  it  is  homes  such 
as  was  this  simple  Jansen  household,  gathered  in  its 
unpretentious,  two-story,  pitched-roof  brick  house 
on  Cornelia  Street,  that  by  their  wise  conservatism 
act  as  a  balance  to  all  the  pretensions  of  wealth 
on  the  one  hand  and  all  the  mutterings  of  discon- 
tented poverty  on  the  other.     They  keep  alike   the 


A    GROWING   STATE.  24 1 

State  and  the  republic  true  to  the  one  grand  purpose 
of  universal  advancement.  The  same  sort  of  home 
looked  out  upon  the  quaint  old  streets  of  Albany; 
despite  the  limitations  of  a  toil-filled  country  life 
just  such  a  one  nestled  in  the  shadows  of  the  Cat- 
skills,  fronted  the  fair  expanse  of  Lake  George,  or 
lay,  like  a  quieting  influence,  within  sound  of  the 
roar  of  Niagara ;  in  just  such  was  fostered  the  sub- 
stantial growth  of  Utica  and  Syracuse,  of  Rochester 
and  Buffalo,  and  from  such,  in  many  a  smaller  town 
and  village,  went  out  the  young  life  that  was  to 
still  further  develop  the  possibilities  of  the  State's 
metropolis,  or  the  even  vaster  possibilities  of  the 
farther  West. 

Restlessness  is  found  even  in  the  quietest  of 
homes.  A  Jansen,  dropping  his  jack-plane  at  the 
first  sound  of  the  bugle,  marched  off  to  battle 
and  followed  closely  after  the  one-armed  Kearney 
as  he  stormed  through  the  San  Antonio  Gate 
of  distant  Mexico;  a  Jansen,  true  to  the  old  ad- 
venturous instincts  of  the  name,  sailed  to  the 
north  for  profit  and  excitement  on  the  long  and 
dangerous  whaling  cruise ;  and  a  Jansen,  filled  with 
the  fever  for  sudden  wealth,  joined  in  '49  the 
mad  rush  for  gold  that  filled  California  with 
eager  "prospectors,"  and  strewed  the  Pacific  hill- 
slopes  with  the  wrecks  of  disappointed  and  broken 
adventurers. 


242  A    GROWING   STATE. 

"  After  all,  lad,"  said  Teunis  the  elder,  as  one 
day  the  California  prodigal  found  his  way  back  to 
the  old  home  again,  broken,  dispirited  and  penniless 
after  his  vain  struggle  for  a  fortune  in  the  far-off 
Pacific  gold-fields,  "  after  all,  lad,  the  old  ways  are 
best.  You  can't  improve  upon  the  natural  road 
to  success,  and  where  one  man  makes  a  fortune 
thousands  lose  their  all.  There's  more  real  com- 
fort and  more  good  money,  in  the  end,  in  the 
hammer  and  saw  here  in  our  Christopher  Street 
shop  than  in  the  pick  and  sieve  out  in  the  diggin's 
that  you  weren't  cut  out  to  work.  Stay  at  home, 
lad,  and  help  your  brother  and  myself.  Perhaps  you 
won't  make  enough  out  of  it  to  be  able  to  hold 
your  own  with  the  dandy  fellows  on  Bleecker  Street 
with  their  sky-blue  coats  and  purple  neckties,  their 
satin  waistcoats,  their  prison-looking  trousers  and 
their  gilt  chains  and  gewgaws,  but  we'll  help  you  to 
be  an  honest  workman,  able  to  earn  your  salt  and 
not  ashamed  of  your  father's  name.  After  all, 
that's  what  helps  make  even  this  big  town  big,  and 
keeps  those  same  dandy  fellows  in  neckcloths  and 
ruffles.  Stick  to  what  you  know,  lad,  and  don't 
dabble  in  what's  strange  to  you.  If  ever  trouble 
comes  to  this  town,  it'll  be  from  folks  trying  to  get 
something  out  of  nothing,  or  going  into  specula- 
tions and  big  things  that  they  know  nothing  about. 
My  grandfather  used  to  get  off  to  me,  when  I  felt 


A    GROWING   STATE.  243 

just  as  you  do  sometimes,  that  Dutch  rhyme  that 
Mr.  Irving  has  put  in  his  book :  — 

'De  waarheid  die  in  duister  lag, 

Die  komt  met  klaarheid  aan  den  dag,' 

and  I  tell  you  there's  more  truth  than  poetry  in 
that.  What's  dark  now  will  come  out  bright 
enough  sometime  if  we'll  only  stick  to  the  truth 
and,  please  God,  live  honest  even  if  we  can't  be 
stylish." 


CHAPTER    XI. 


ERRATIC    DAYS. 

HERE  was  work  in 
plenty  for  all  the  car- 
penters in  the  J  an  sen 
shop  that  mid-century 
year  of  1850.  The  city 
was  perceptibly  increas- 
ing in  population  and 
extent.  The  people  re- 
quired homes  ;  the  mer- 
chants must  have  stores 
and  warehouses.  The  brick  and  brown-stone  front- 
age was  steadily  stretching  northward,  and  the 
wood-work  and  fittings  of  all  these  new  "high-stoop" 
and  "  English-basement "  houses  furnished  labor 
enough  for  good  workmen  and  skilled  mechanics. 

The  State,  too,  quite  as  well  as  the  city,  was 
growing  rapidly  in  population  and  products.  It  is 
asserted  that  in  the  sixty-five  years,  between  179c 
and  1855,  the  State  of  New  York  increased  in  pop- 
ulation sevenfold  —  the  city  twenty-fold.  In  1850 
the    State    had    a    total   population    of   over   three 

244 


ERRATIC  DAYS.  245 

millions — a  gain  of  nearly  half  a  million  since 
1845  ;  within  those  same  five  years  the  city  showed 
a  gain  of  nearly  two  hundred  thousand,  having 
in    1850  a   population   of    515,547. 

Between  the  Jansens  of  the  metropolis  and  those 
distant  kinsmen  of  the  Jansen  name  whom  Tennis 
the  elder  had  visited  at  Rochester  in  1827,  quite  an 
intimacy  had  sprung  up  —  an  intimacy  which  even 
the  high  postal  rates  of  the  anti-postal  days  had  not 
been  wholly  able  to  dampen.  The  Jansens  of  1850 
had,  thus,  frequent  communication  with  their  kins- 
men at  Rochester,  and  gradually  came  to  exchange 
semi-occasional  visits  as  the  slow-going  canal  gave 
place  to  the  more  expeditious  railroad.  New  York 
City  has  always  been  a  powerful  attraction  to  dwel- 
lers in  less  metropolitan  centres,  and  the  descent  of 
distant  relatives  upon  their  city  cousins  has  ever 
been  one  of  the  unwritten  features  of  New  York's 
domestic  story.  There  is  a  summer  reciprocity,  of 
course,  when  the  dwellers  in  hot  and  dusty  streets 
remember  the  green  fields  of  their  country  kins- 
men, but  the  city  as  an  ever-present  attraction  is 
an  even  more  powerful  magnet.  It  was  in  the 
course  of  these  later  visitations  that  the  Jansens 
of  Rochester  astonished  their  more  prosaic  kins- 
men of  the  city  with  now  some  unexpected  turn 
in  State  politics,  or  now  some  new  and  strange 
development  in   religious  thought. 


246  ERRATIC  DAYS. 

For  these  years  about  1850  may  be  noted  as  the 
era  of  erraticism  in  religious  faith  and  social  prob- 
lems, and  this  was  fully  as  apparent  —  if  not  really 
more  noticeable  —  in  Central  New  York  than  in 
any  other  part  of  the  country.  The  cultured  dis- 
beliefs of  Massachusetts  had  as  yet  scarce  crossed 
the  New  York  boundary,  but  certain  of  those 
sporadic  religious  wanderings  which  touch  the 
superstitious  rather  than  the  intellectual  in  man, 
had  already  had  their  birth  on  New  York  soil. 
"  Mother  Ann  "  and  her  "  family  "  of  Shakers  had 
begun  their  singular  system  of  life  and  faith  as  far 
back  as  1779,  at  Watervliet,  near  Albany,  and  that 
still  stranger  woman,  Jemima  Wilkinson,  whose 
story  is  in  itself  a  marvel,  had  founded  her  colony 
and  wrought  her  pretended  miracles  in  the  western 
wilderness  near  Seneca  Lake,  where  in  18 19  she 
died.  Solomon  Spaulding's  buried  romance,  which 
subsequently  became  (under  the  hands  of  Joseph 
Smith,  the  shrewd  farmer's  boy  of  the  Ontario  clear- 
ing) the  famous  "  Book  of  Morman,"  was  unearthed 
on  a  hill  in  Manchester,  by  the  shores  of  Lake 
Ontario,  and  the  first  Morman  church  was  started 
in  that  little  town  ;  the  half-crazy  "  religionist," 
Captain  William  Miller,  evolved  his  "end  of  the 
world"  theories  at  his  home  among  the  hills  of 
Washington  Count)',  where,  an  uneducated  farmer, 
he  had  brooded  over  possibilities  beyond  the  grasp 


ERRATIC  DAYS.  247 

of  his  limited  intelligence,  while  the  still  greater 
paradox  of  "spiritualism,"  so-called,  found  its  first 
"  manifestations  "  among  the  Shakers  at  New  Leba- 
non, in  the  home  of  the  Poughkeepsie  shoemaker, 
Andrew  Jackson  Davis,  and  by  the  "  Rochester 
knockings,"  or  "spirit-rappings"  of  the  Fox  sisters 
at  Hydeville  and,  later,  at  Rochester. 

These  excursions  into  the  mysteries,  country 
born  and  bred,  found  their  way  in  time,  by  prosely- 
tism  or  by  hearsay,  to  the  city  and,  in  1850,  were 
but  a  few  among  the  many  vagrant  beliefs  — spirit- 
ual, moral,  hygienic  and  social  —  that  were  by 
turns  interesting  and  taking  captive  the  people  of 
town  and  village  all  through  the  busy  State. 

This  erraticism  in  beliefs  always  argues  a  sea- 
son of  material  prosperity  among  the  people  for, 
as  a  rule,  the  affairs  of  the  soul  are  with  far  too 
many  honest  folk  a  secondary  matter  to  the  condi- 
tion of  the  pocket.  So,  even  this  unsettled  state 
of  thought  argues  a  corresponding  and  substantial 
growth  for  the  State  from  which  all  these  pecu- 
liarities of  faith  emanated. 

So,  for  a  season,  the  Jansens  of  the  city,  in 
common  with  thousands  of  just  such  slow-thinking 
but  excellent  people,  were,  in  turn,  made  curious, 
attracted,  fascinated,  disillusioned,  disgusted  and 
repelled  by  the  pseudo  reforms  in  religion  and 
science  that,  all   about  that  middle  portion   of  the 


248  ERRATIC  DAYS. 

present  century,  ran  their  course  throughout  the 
entire  country.  The  discussion  across  the  counter 
and  at  the  work-bench,  the  gossip  of  the  living- 
room  and  the  disputes  of  the  street  as  they  did 
much  to  interest  the  people  in  all  these  new 
"isms" —  spiritualism,  magnetism,  Millerism,  Gra- 
hamism,  Fourierism  and  their  kin  —  also  did  much 
to  demonstrate  their  fallacies  and  to  lead  people  to 
a  clearer  and  more  practical  way  of  thinking. 

But  there  was  one  "  ism  "  that  was  slowly  mould- 
ing public  sentiment,  and  making  its  way  from 
an  apparent  fanaticism  to  real  endeavor.  Upon 
his  wild  mountain  farm  at  North  Elba,  in  Essex 
County  (given  him  by  Gerrit  Smith,  most  gentle 
of  New  York  fanatics),  John  Brown  was,  in  1850, 
thinking  his  way  toward  those  offensive  measures 
that  were,  before  another  decade,  to  make  him  the 
John  Baptist  of  a  regeneration  greater  than  even 
his  over-wrought  imaginings  could  picture.  De- 
nounced by  politicians  and  regarded  with  distrust 
by  the  people,  the  little  handful  of  reformers  con- 
temptuously styled  Abolitionists  influenced  those 
who  most  despised  and  ignored  them,  and  finally 
gained  recognition  and  footing  by  the  autocratic 
acts  of  the  very  ones  who  most  strenuously  labored 
for  their  overthrow.  "Whatever  of  impunity  they 
enjoyed  throughout  the  greater  portion  of  the 
North,"    says    Mr.  Greeley,    "  was    accorded    them 


1 


ERRATIC  DAYS.  25  I 

rather  through  contempt  for  their  insignificance 
than  willingness  to  let  them  be  heard." 

But  events  were  strengthening  them  in  spite  of 
their  objectionable  speech  and  methods.  The  pas- 
sage of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  in  1850  which 
practically  turned  the  free  North  into  privileged 
preserves  for  the  Southern  man-hunters  aroused 
first  the  antipathy  and  then  the  protests  of  the 
people,  while  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  of  1854 
demonstrated  to  the  Free  States  that  "systematic, 
determined  resistance  was  now  an  imperative  duty." 
Those  who  had  most  loudly  denounced  the  ultra 
demands  of  the  abolition  extremists  now  turned 
protest  into  action  and  showed  by  their  votes  their 
determination  to  be  neither  the  tools  nor  the  allies 
of  the  traders  in  flesh  and  blood. 

In  1852  a  mob  at  Syracuse  rescued  a  fugitive  from 
his  captors  who,  under  the  shelter  of  the  Fugitive 
Slave  Law,  were  taking  the  poor  runaway  back  to 
slavery.  Similar  disturbances  in  the  State  showed 
the  temper  of  its  people.  The  liberty  convention 
of  1848  which,  meeting  at  Buffalo,  placed  in  nomi- 
nation for  the  presidency,  Gerrit  Smith  of  New 
York  —  one  of  the  chief  among  the  abolition  amta- 
tors  —  although  then  made  the  butt  for  ridicule,  and 
regarded  as  not  even  a  respectable  minority,  paved 
the  way  for  the  later  coalition  of  opposing  elements, 
helped   on    the   disruption    of    the   Whig    party   in 


2§2  ERRATIC  DAYS. 

1852,  developed  into  the  Free  Soil  party  of  1854, 
and,  in  1856,  carried  the  State  of  New  York  for 
the  new  and  aggressive  Republican  party,  giving 
Fremont  and  Dayton  the  State  by  a  plurality  of 
eighty  thousand  in  a  total  vote  of  nearly  six  hun- 
dred thousand.  The  "  Irrepressible  Conflict  "  had 
certain  unmistakable  factors  in  the  Empire  State 
—  busy,  preoccupied,  and  absorbed  in  its  own 
concerns  though  that  great  State  was  —  quite  as 
distinctively  as  in  the  other  and  more  pronounced 
anti-slavery  commonwealths. 

It  is  in  this  stand  for  the  right  that  the  real 
power  of  the  people  is  to  be  seen.  In  the  face  of 
an  aristocracy  of  wealth  —  an  aristocracy  which, 
even  from  the  old  Dutch  days,  has  been  a  domina- 
ting influence  in  New  York  history  —  the  cause  of 
the  people  has  gone  steadily  forward.  Even  in  this 
very  issue  of  slavery  against  freedom  the  wealth  and 
fashion  of  the  State  were  either  ranged  on  the  side 
of  oppression  or  were  coldly  neglectful  of  the  ques- 
tion involved.  The  protest  of  the  people  was  in 
reality  the  people's  protest.  It  was  the  stand  of 
the  great  middle  class  (itself  often  careless  and 
neglectful,  but  always  well-intentioned)  against  both 
the  indifference  of  the  highest  and  the  venality  of 
the   lowest  strata  of  society. 

A  great  city  is  invariably  the  most  culpable  alike 
in  indifference  and  venality  and,  in   this  case,  the 


ERRATIC  DAYS.  253 

advance  of  freedom's  claims  was  rather  in  spite  of 
than  with  the  countenance  of  the  great  metropolis. 
Absorbed  in  its  own  concerns  —  its  gains  and  its 
loses,  its  pleasures  and  its  pains,  its  growth  and  its 
grandeur  —  the  city  of  New  York  thought  less  of 
right  than  of  policy.  By  the  plurality  of  1856  the 
rural  life  of  the  State  of  New  York,  as  against  the 
negligence  or  cupidity  of  its  metropolis,  expressed 
the  determination  of  its  people  to  resist  the  dicta- 
tion and  the  pressure  of  an  aggressive  slavery. 

And  out  of  this  very  selfishness  that,  for  business 
reasons,  would  palliate  rather  than  oppose  a  wrong- 
came  the  punishment  and  humiliation  of  the  city. 
Another  era  of  disaster  was  at  hand. 

It  had  been  a  year  of  feverish  disturbance,  this 
fatal  year  of  '57.  Conflicts  between  the  new  and 
old  police  boards  had  disgraced  the  city;  the  quar- 
rels of  local  politicians  became  almost  feuds  and 
vendettas,  and  not  even  its  philanthrophy  and  its 
lavish  purchase  of  a  great  pleasure  park  could  blind 
people  to  its  extravagant  show  of  mourning  over 
now  a  dead  pugilist,  now  a  drink-killed  political 
"boss,"  or  its  open  resistance  to  the  legislative  laws 
against  the  liquor  traffic. 

Teunis  Jansen  the  elder,  succeeding  to  the  name 
and  trade  of  his  father  upon  the  death  of  that 
honest  old  gentleman  in  1852,  had  sought  to  en- 
large his  business  returns  by  embarking  with  his 


.254  ERRATIC  DAYS. 

brothers  upon  the  performance  of  larger  building 
operations  than  their  capital  or  credit  justified. 
The  scheme  had  been  that  of  his  brother  Isaac,  the 
unsuccessful  California  miner,  but  the  promise  of 
great  returns  blinded  the  usually  cautious  Teunis 
to  the  necessarily  large  investments  and  the  risks 
involved.  Departing  from  the  safe  policy  of  his 
father  —  never  to  risk  beyond  his  ability  to  re- 
cover —  Tennis  had  burdened  himself  with  heavy 
liabilities  for  material  and  had  given  his  paper 
promises  to  pay  depending  for  their  discharge  upon 
the  negotiations  of  similar  paper  promises  taken 
from  the  "  capitalists  "  for  whom  he  was  building. 

In  assuming  such  risks  our  honest  carpenter  was 
but  following  the  example  of  thousands  of  others, 
equally  honest  and  well-intentioned.  But  too  large 
a  volume  of  such  unstable  trade  is  certain  to  react 
upon  itself.  The  "  mountain  load  of  debt "  as  Ed- 
ward Everett  called  it  grew  with  each  new  day  of 
fictitious  business.  It  became  more  than  the  banks 
could  carry  or  the  people  could  bear.  Loans  were 
called  in  and  discounts  contracted.  Obligations 
could  not  be  met  by  those  who  had  entered  upon 
them,  and  one  fine  October  morning  Teunis  Jansen 
rose  from  a  troubled  sleep  to  find  himself  ruined  as 
his  father  had  been  just  twenty  years  before,  and 
by  the  same  never  heeded  experience  of  disastrous 
speculation. 


ERRATIC  DAYS.  257 

But  as  Teunis  Jansen  was  not  alone  in  his  misfor- 
tune, so,  too,  his  city  was  not  alone  in  its  disasters. 
New  York  first  felt  the  blow  and  suffered  terribly 
from  its  effects  ;  by  October  14  every  bank  in  the  city 
had  suspended  payment,  enormous  rates  of  interest 
were  paid  for  loans,  and  the  fear  and  frenzy  of 
panic  closed  in  upon  the  town.  New  York  was  the 
commercial  centre  of  the  country  ;  the  influence  of 
the  metropolis  extended  far  and  wide  and  its  sea- 
sons of  abundance  or  scarcity  were  correspondingly 
felt  not  alone  in  the  State  but  in  the  remotest  parts 
of  the  land.  Failure  followed  failure  in  rapid  suc- 
cession, distress  and  want  created  even  greater  des- 
titution, and  there  was  scarcely  a  home  in  the  land 
that  did  not  feel  the  effect  of  this  catastrophe  of 
over-confidence  and  over-production. 

Teunis  Jansen,  overcome  with  mortification  at 
what  he  deemed  his  own  cupidity  and  lack  of  judg- 
ment, like  a  sensible  fellow,  sought  not  for  lame 
and  impotent  excuses  but  blamed  himself  for  his 
folly  and  set  to  work,  as  had  his  father  before  him, 
to  manfully  dig  himself  out  of  his  ruins. 

No  vigorous  and  well-furnished  country  long 
labors  under  a  burden  of  disaster.  It  rights  itself 
in  time  and  is  finally  relieved  of  its  undesirable  bur- 
den, only,  in  another  generation,  to  undergo  a  similar 
experience. 

The   household    of    Teunis    Jansen,  indeed,   felt 


^258  ERRATIC  DAYS. 

supremely  thankful  that  it  had  not  been  called  to 
experience  the  bitterest  pangs  of  the  panic  at  a  time 
when  the  cry  of  "  bread  or  blood "  rang  through 
the  streets  of  the  city,  when  bakers'  wagons  were 
mobbed  by  the  starving  people,  and  provision  stores 
were  threatened  by  the  hungry  unemployed.  Boys 
and  girls  alike  promised  to  use  uncomplainingly  if 
need  be  lard  instead  of  butter  and  candle-light  in 
place  of  gas,  if  such  sacrifices  on  their  part  would 
help  their  father  out  of  his  time  of  trouble.  The 
good  Teunis,  however,  knew  full  well  that  all  his 
advice  to  his  boys  to  take  lesson  by  his  failure 
would  be  ignored  by  them  when  the  allurements  of 
unsubstantial  profits  came  to  them.  But  all  the 
same,  looking  over  the  wreck,  he  sought  to  give 
the  warning. 

"  The  trouble  is,  lad,"  he  said  to  young  Teunis, 
a  stalwart  young  fellow  of  nineteen,  "  we  as  a  peo- 
ple are  in  too  much  of  a  hurry.  That's  what  my 
father,  out  of  his  own  experience,  said  to  me.  It's 
what  I  now  tell  you.  But  I  don't  suppose  you'll 
heed  it.  I  heard  this  Boston  man  (a  deep  thinker 
he  is  too,  lad)  Theodore  Parker,  say  in  a  talk  the 
other  day  that  we  of  this  nation  are  the  least 
economical  civilized  people  on  the  earth,  and  I 
reckon  he's  right.  The  only  cure  for  us  is,  I  be- 
lieve, moderation — moderation  in  business,  in  pri- 
vate and   public  expenditures,  in  legislation  and  in 


ERRATIC  DAYS.  259 

everything  else.  There  is  no  royal  road  to  wealth, 
lad,  and  that  you'll  soon  enough  discover ;  and, 
whether  we  are  individuals  or  communities,  as  we 
sow  we  must  surely  reap." 

Teunis  the  younger  shoved  the  plane  valiantly 
and  said  "  amen  "  to  all  his  father's  "  preaching," 
but  the  older  man  knew  that  when  opportunity 
came  his  boy  would  be  as  eager  to  risk  and  venture 
as  had  father  and  grandfather  before  him. 

"  We  shall  never  recover  from  this  set-back,'' 
said  the  croakers.  But  recovery  is  always  possible. 
Even  the  shadow  of  financial  disaster,  black  as  it 
had  been  to  so  many  upon  whom  it  had  fallen, 
grew  less  and  less  dense  as  better  times  came  on 
and  confidence  was  restored  and  as,  over  all  the 
land,  the  conviction  grew  that  a  disaster  even 
more  grave  and  serious  than  financial  loss  threat- 
ened the  American  people  —  the  disruption  of  the 
National  Union  ! 

It  is  in  no  sense  a  part  of  the  story  of  New  York 
to  detail  or  discuss  the  causes  of  the  War  of 
the  Rebellion.  The  conflict  came,  not  without 
attempted  compromise  and  prevention,  but  it  came, 
none  the  less,  as  the  inevitable  consequence  of  an 
absolute  issue  between  two  determined  forces — an 
issue  not  to  be  longer  postponed  or.  compounded, 
but  to  be  put  to  the  test  of  strength,  of  loyalty  and 
even  of  battle. 


260  ERRATIC  DAYS. 

The  State  of  New  York  as  one  of  the  chief  fac- 
tors in  the  decision  of  this  issue  prepared  now  to 
turn  its  protests  into  action.  But  not  without 
attempted  reconciliation  was  this  determination 
taken.  Its  best  commercial  interests  could  be 
served  only  by  peace  between  the  South  and  North. 
War  meant,  for  it,  commercial  disturbance  and 
serious  loss.  "  No  other  State,"  says  Mr.  Roberts, 
"  held,  by  its  trade,  by  its  insurance  companies  and 
by  its  journals,  such  close  relations  with  the  South 
as  did  New  York.  No  other  State  had  such  vast 
interests  involved  in  maintaining  friendship  with 
the  Southern  people."  In  the  interests  of  peace  it 
first  moved.  A  petition,  addressed  to  Congress 
by  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  City  of  New 
York  and  asking  for  steps  toward  a  peaceful  settle- 
ment of  the  impending  quarrel,  received  the  signa- 
tures of  forty  thousand  merchants  and  business 
men  of  the  city,  and  every  city  in  the  State  was 
placarded  with  posters  calling  for  meetings  in  the 
interest  of  peace  and  harmony. 

But  peace  and  harmony  were  not  to  be.  New 
York  State  had  given  to  Lincoln  and  Hamlin  a 
majority  of  over  fifty  thousand,  and  to  the  Republi- 
can State  ticket  headed  by  Edwin  D.  Morgan  as 
its  candidate  for  governor  a  majority  of  over  sixty- 
three  thousand.  When  therefore  the  demand 
came  for  acts  as  the  promise  of  its  votes  the  people 


ERRATIC  DAYS.  26 1 

of  New  York  were  not  backward.  "  They  ran," 
says  Mr.  Roberts,  "  before  all  the  demands  upon 
them."  "No  State,"  he  declares,  "moved  more 
steadily  forward  in  obedience  to  principle ;  and  no 
other  sacrificed  so  much  at  the  outset,  and  through 
the  whole  continuance  of  the  struggle  for  a  united 
republic  uncontrolled  by  slavery."  The  utterances 
at  the  "peace  at  any  price  meeting"  convened  on 
January  31,  i860,  at  Tweddle  Hall,  Albany,  were 
universally  condemned  by  the  people.  They  grew 
impatient  of  even  suggested  compromise  and  when, 
on  that  April  afternoon  of  1861,  came  the  tidings 
that  the  first  shot  had  been  fired  and  that  Sumter 
had  fallen,  Republicans  and  Democrats — patriots 
now  and  no  longer  politicians — were  united  in  one 
common  desire  to  resent  the  insult  to  the  flao;  and 
unite  for  national  safety  and  national  defence. 
The  great  Union  Square  Meeting  of  April  20 
put  this  desire  into  practical  form;  the  Union 
Defence  Committee,  comprising  the  foremost  busi- 
ness men  of  the  twin  cities,  was  organized,  and  the 
words  of  patriotism  and  of  firm  determination  there 
uttered  found  an  instant  and  purpose-filled  response 
in  every  town  and  village,  every  farmhouse  and 
cross-road  even  to  the  remotest  sections  of  the 
Empire  State. 


CHAPTER   XII. 


IN     WAR     AND     PEACE. 


HE  boom  of 
the  guns  at 
Sumter  found 
an  instant 
echo  in  every 
true  Northern 
heart.  "Si- 
lence is  th  e 
evidence  of  dis- 
loyalty,"  said 
the  people  of  Delaware  County,  and  the  State  of 
New  York,  never  lagging  in  time  of  stress,  gave  of 
its  young  blood  unsparingly.  And,  among  the  half 
million  men*  whom  the  State  gave  in  defence  of 
the  nation's  life  during  the  four  long  years  of  civil 
war,  one  of  the  first  to  enlist  was  Teunis  Jansen 
the  younger. 


*  New  York  furnished  to  the  service  of  the  Union  during  the  Civil  War  448,850  men, 
while  18,197  were  represented  by  their  "commutation"  or  "  substitute  "  payments.  The 
State  claimed  also  an  additional  supply  of  6000  soldiers  to  those  credited  to  New  York  by  the 
books  of  the  war  department,  while  a  militia  force  of  16,213  men  sent  for  short  service  was 
not  credited  in  the  quota  of  the  State.  These  figures,  with  the  number  of  persons  who  served 
in  official  positions  in  the  army  and  on  staff  duty,  swell  the  total  to  fully  500,000  men. 

262 


IN  WAR   AND   PEACE.  263 

A  mother's  pleadings  and  a  father's  grudging 
consent  could  not  cool  the  young  blood  that  leaped 
to  action  at  such  a  time  of  enthusiasm  and  excite- 
ment, and  Private  Teunis  Jansen  —  first  a  three 
months  man,  then  a  three  years  man  and  then  a 
re-enlisted  veteran  —  returned  to  his  home  only 
after  the  surrender  at  Appomatox. 

Of  a  sturdy  nature,  and  with  a  vigorous  constitu- 
tion, the  young  soldier  was  one  of  the  fortunate 
few  whose  record  of  safety  was  exceptional. 
Though  actively  engaged  in  twenty-nine  battles 
and  skirmishes  and  with  fully  as  much  dash  and 
daring  as  his  comrades,  he  yet  had  neither  scar 
nor  wound  to  show,  save  the  spent  bullet  that  he 
wore  beneath  his  scalp  as  a  memento  of  Antietam's 
fight.  Proof  against  the  malaria,  the  exposure  and 
the  myriad  camp  sicknesses  that  did  to  death  so 
many  of  his  companions,  he  was  always  first  at 
rations  and  at  roll-call,  and  came  home  at  last 
Captain  Teunis  Jansen,  the  pride  of  his  family  and 
the  same  sturdy  and  simple-hearted  fellow  that  had 
left  the  city  home  four  years  before. 

His  two  brothers  who  caught  the  war-fever  not 
so  much  from  any  latent  patriotism  as  from  the  let- 
ters from  camp  that  came  from  their  elder  brother 
to  stimulate  and  excite  them,  were  not  so  fortu- 
nate as  was  he.  One  fell  in  the  bloody  "  death- 
angle  M  at  Gettysburg,  and  one  was  always  on  the 


264  IN  WAR   AXD    PEACE. 

hospital  list,  only  to  drag  himself  home  at  last  a 
discharged  invalid,  useless  in  war  and,  ever  after, 
equally  useless  in  peace. 

Throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  State, 
wherever  a  stalwart  arm  and  willing  heart  were 
found,  the  record  of  the  Jansen  household  could 
show  its  counterpart.  The  story  of  the  State  has 
no  prouder  or  worthier  page  than  that  which  tells 
of  the  loyalty,  the  generosity,  the  faithfulness,  the 
sacrifices  and  the  deeds  of  the  great  Commonwealth 
during  those  four  weary  years  in  which  the  nation 
was  struggling  for  safety  and  for  life.  From  New7 
York  City  by  the  sea  to  Buffalo  by  the  lakes  there 
was  scarcely  a  home  from  which  did  not  go  out 
some  soldier  to  take  his  place  in  the  ranks  of  the 
Union  army  or  some  influence  that  could  tell  of 
equal  interest  and  of  equal  loss.  What  Buffalo 
said  of  herself  in  1887,  looking  back  over  that 
portion  of  her  local  life  that  has  now  become  his- 
tory, may  be  said  of  every  town  and  city  in  the 
State  :  "  Our  city  has  ample  occasion  for  justifiable 
pride,  but  on  all  the  bright  page  of  noble  achieve- 
ments in  her  fruitful  history  there  is  no  time  she 
can  trace  with  more  commendable  egotism  than  that 
which  recounts  the  deeds  of  her  sons  on  the  field  of 
battle."  "  In  zeal  and  devotion  and  gallantry,"  says 
Mr.  Roberts,  "  New  York  troops  were  not  behind 
their  fellows  in  any  danger  or  trial.     Wherever  the 


IN  WAR   AND  PEACE.  26s 


sacrifices  and  triumphs  of  the  national  army  or 
navy  are  told  or  sung,  their  deeds  will  be  remem- 
bered and  honored."  The  comrades  of  Teunis 
Jansen  on  picket,  in  battle  and  in  bivouac  were 
fully  as  brave  and  fully  as  faithful  as  was  he. 

But  it  is  not  in  fighting-men  only  that  the  sum 
of  a  nation's  courage  is  to  be  reckoned.  Quite  as 
important  a  factor  in  the  triumph  of  the  Right  as 
the  volunteers  of  the  Empire  State  was  that  greater 
armv  of  determined  men  and  devoted  women  who 
gave  of  their  substance  and  their  life  uncomplain- 
ingly and  unsparingly.  The  men  could  give  of 
their  wealth  and  of  their  poverty,  even.  Of  the  first 
two  hundred  and  sixty  millions  of  dollars  loaned 
to  the  Government  for  the  prosecution  of  the  war 
New  York  advanced  two  hundred  and  ten  millions. 
"  The  first  flush  of  an  era  of  heroism,"  says  Mr. 
Roberts,  "  was  upon  the  people,  and  the  Common- 
wealth counted  neither  cost  nor  sacrifice  in  its 
determination  to  save  the  Union."  The  women 
could  give  of  their  sympathy,  their  economy  and 
their  willing  labor  that  which  was  not  to  be  reck- 
oned in  dollars  and  cents,  but  which  exerted  an 
even  stronger  and  more  lasting  influence.  In  the 
first  months  of  the  war  a  Great  meeting  of  Ladies, 
held  in  the  Cooper  Institute,  led  to  the  organization 
of  a  society  for  active  work,  out  of  which  grew 
the    United     States     Sanitary    Commission.      And 


266  IN  WAR  AND  PEACE. 

in  the  quiet  but  effective  work  of  the  home 
circle  and  the  neighborhood  gatherings,  in  the 
patient  endurance,  the  pinching  economies,  the 
heroic  sacrifices,  of  which  the  world  knows  little 
and  history  keeps  no  record,  the  work  of  the  women 
of  the  State  who  stood  behind  her  volunteers,  a 
vast  but  silent  moral  influence,  may  be  reckoned  in 
the  account  of  practical  aid  fully  as  noble  and  fully 
as  effective  an  element  as  were  the  bayonets  of  her 
soldiers  and  the  money  of  her  merchants. 

The  war  at  last  was  over.  Victory  had  rested, 
as  victory  only  could  rest,  upon  the  banners  of  a 
nation  determined  to  defend  and  vindicate  her 
honor  and  her  right.  With  extravagant  demonstra- 
tions of  gratitude  and  respect,  of  appreciation  and 
pride,  the  thronging  streets  of  every  city  in  the 
State,  from  the  metropolis  to  the  lakes,  welcomed 
back,  in  those  spring  months  of  1865,  the  sons  of 
the  Commonwealth.  There  were  tears  for  the 
decimated  ranks,  there  were  huzzas  for  the  home- 
returning  veterans,  there  were  murmurs  of  pity, 
tinged  with  pride,  for  the  tattered  battle  flags  that 
told  of  battle  and  of  storm.  And  then,  the  soldiers 
became  citizens  once  more. 

Teunis  Jansen  and  his  comrades  dropped  into 
the  ways  and  paths  of  private  life  and  of  home 
duties  gladly  and  readily.  They  returned  to  the 
homes    that  welcomed    them    and  to  the    ranks  of 


ONE    OF    THE    FIRST    TO    ENLIST. 


IN  WAR   AND   PEACE.  269 

labor  that  opened  to  receive  them  with  all  the 
determination  and  ambition  of  men  who,  having 
played  their  part  in  war  faithfully  and  well,  hoped 
now  to  perform  their  duties  in  peace  with  equal 
vigor  and  success.  The  work  of  mustering  out 
went  rapidly  forward,  and  by  the  end  of  the  year,  of 
all  the  volunteers  who  had  maintained  the  credit 
of  the  Empire  State  upon  the  battle-fields  of  the 
Republic,  only  seven  regiments  of  infantry  and  two 
of  cavalry  remained  in  the  service. 

To  Teunis  and  his  comrades  there  was  plenty  of 
work  at  hand.  They  returned  to  a  State  which, 
even  though  advancing  in  material  prosperity  dur- 
ing the  desperate  struggle,  showed  the  price  it  had 
paid  for  success  in  the  actual  loss  of  its  strongest 
and  most  needed  workers.*  And  now  these  had 
come  home  again. 

They  returned  to  a  State  that,  notwithstanding 
its  outspoken  and  devoted  loyalty,  had  yet  held 
within  it  through  those  four  years  of  war,  the  ele- 
ments of  opposition  and  of  wavering  faith.  The 
adverse  forces  of  disapproval  and  doubt,  of  criti- 
cism and  depression,  of  political  disfavor  and  of 
absolute  disturbance  had  penetrated  its  councils 
and  swayed  the  moods  of  its  people.  The  timid 
and  faint-hearted   cast    clown   by  every  reverse    or 


*  The  census  of  1865  as  compared  with  that  of  1S60  showed  an  actual  decrease  in  popula- 
tion amounting  to  nearly  50,000. 


270  IN  WAR   AND   PEACE. 

antagonized  by  every  unsatisfactory  or  radical 
action  of  the  national  authorities,  often  wavered 
in  their  fealty  or  shifted  their  political  adherence. 
The  war  party  in  the  State  more  than  once  suffered 
defeat  at  the  polls,  while  the  opponents  of  the  gov- 
ernment, pushing  the  permission  of  free  speech  to 
the  uttermost,  too  often  hampered  and  harassed  the 
methods  and  acts  of  those  who  saw  more  clearly 
the  needs  and  demands  of  the  hour.  Riot  and 
bloodshed  rent  the  chief  city  of  the  State  in  one 
terrible  and  never-to-be-forgotten  July  week  of 
1863,  and  conspirators  tried  again  and  again  to 
weaken    the    allegiance  of  the   State  and  turn   its 


g 


reat  influence  aeainst  the  conduct  of  the  war. 


*& 


But  all  to  no  avail.  "  I  tell  you,  lad,"  said 
Teunis  the  father  to  Teunis  the  home-returning 
son,  "  we  had  our  dark  days  here,  too  —  quite  as 
dark  as  were  any  you  knew  at  the  front.  There 
was  the  day  when  we  heard  that  the  Merrimac  had 
sunk  all  the  war-ships  at  Fortress  Monroe  and  was 
steaming  up  here  to  bombarb  and  destroy  New 
York ;  there  was  the  week  before  Gettysburg  when 
every  one  had  it  that  Lee's  victorious  army  was  on 
its  way  to  Philadelphia  and  New  York,  and  that 
the  war  was  to  be  transferred  to  northern  soil ; 
there  were  the  draft  troubles,  and  the  riot  week, 
and  Early's  raid  and  the  Canada  plots  —  all  of  'em 
made    things  look    black    enough,  I   can    tell    you, 


IN  WAR  AND  PEACE.  271 

while  every  set-back  from  Bull  Run  to  the  murder 
of  the  President  struck  home  with  us  just  as  hard 
as  it  did  with  you.  We  waited  here,  always  full  of 
anxiety  and  doubt ;  you,  at  the  front,  had  all  the 
excitement  of  real  conflict  to  keep  you  up  to  the 
mark.  But,  thank  the  Lord,  no  matter  how  black 
things  looked  to  us,  we  were  bound  to  stick  to  it, 
and  stick  we  did ;  and,  to  my  mind,  the  victory  we 
have  gained  over  the  croakers  and  the  rebels  at 
home  (and  we  had  plenty  of  such  here  in  New 
York)  is  as  grand  a  triumph  as  was  Grant's  over 
Lee,  or  the  downfall  of  the  Rebellion  itself.  But 
it's  all  over  at  last.  And  now,  old  fellow,  the  shop's 
ready  for  you ;  the  business  is  yours.  There's 
plenty  to  be  done;  let's  go  to  work!  " 

And  go  to  work  they  did  and  to  good  purpose. 
Freed  from  the  incubus  of  an  exhausting  war,  and 
the  drain  in  men  and  money  that  it  demanded,  the 
State  of  New  York  in  common  with  the  other  sec- 
tions of  a  reunited  nation  pressed  forward  on  the 
path  of  material  and  intellectual  progress. 

A  little  study  of  statistics  will  tell  with  what  re- 
sult* With  a  population,  in  1888,  of  5,709,969  (an 
increase  of  fully  two  millions  since  the  close  of  the 
civil  war)  toward  which  the  metropolis  contributes 


*  According  to  the  latest  statistics  the  United  States  is  now  the  richest  nation  on  the 
globe,  showing  in  1SH8  an  estimated  wealth  of  $60,000,000,000.  In  this  valuation  New  York 
stands  first  in  the  list  of  States,  Pennsylvania  being  second,  and  Ohio  third. 


.272  IN  WAR   AND  PEACE. 

its  total  of  a  million  and  a  half,  the  State  of  New 
York  values  the  real  and  personal  property  of  its 
citizens  as  aggregating  fully  eight  billions  of  dol- 
lars. Its  farm  lands  are  quoted  as  being  worth 
nearly  twelve  hundred  millions ;  its  manufactures 
reach  annually  twelve  hundred  millions  more ;  the 
money  in  the  banks  of  deposit  within  its  borders 
show  a  total  of  five  hundred  millions  of  dollars 
while  thirteen  hundred  thousand  depositors  have 
to  their  credit  in  the  savings  banks  of  the  State 
another  round  five  hundred  millions.  The  railroad 
lines  that  stretch  their  iron  rails  across  its  surface, 
though  an  outgrowth  of  only  forty  years  of  prog- 
ress, show  annual  earnings  in  freight  and  passenger 
traffic  amounting  to  one  hundred  and  thirty  mil- 
lions of  dollars,  while  the  canals  of  the  State,  into 
whose  construction  De  Witt  Clinton  threw  so 
much  of  his  energy  and  faith,  now  free  highways 
for  transportation  so  far  as  tolls  are  concerned, 
show  an  annual  value  in  merchandise  carried  of 
hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  and  a  maximum 
carnage,  in  1887,  of  nearly  six  million  tons.  The 
common  schools  of  the  State  give  free  education 
to  more  than  a  million  children  at  an  annual  cost 
of  more  than  thirteen  millions  of  dollars,  while 
twenty-two  universities  and  colleges  show  an  aggre- 
gate value  in  grounds,  buildings  and  apparatus  of 
fully  eight  millions  of  dollars.     Mrs.  Bethune's  little 


IN  WAR   AND   PEACE.  273 

Sunday-schoool  of  18 16  has  expanded  into  over 
seven  thousand  Sunday-schools  within  the  State, 
attended  by  twelve  hundred  thousand  scholars  and 
teachers.  The  number  of  persons  actually  em- 
ployed in  the  productive  industries  of  the  State 
(including  professional  and  personal  service,  agri- 
culture, trade,  manufactures,  mechanical  trades,  etc.) 
reached,  according  to  the  census  of  1880,  nearly 
three  millions,  and  has  largely  increased  since  then. 
The  State  Milita  in  1887  showed  an  actual  enroll- 
ment of  over  twelve  thousand  men  and  an  available 
reserve  of  six  hundred  and  fifty  thousand. 

These  are  wonderful  figures  for  a  State  which  is 
but  one  in  a  sisterhood  of  thirty-eight  vigorous, 
ambitious  and  constantly  progressing  common- 
wealths, and  which  has  but  just  completed  its  first 
century  of  actual  existence  as  a  separate  and  con- 
stituted State.  They  show  the  real  work  of  the 
people — just  such  sturdy,  determined,  active  and 
practical  folk  as  this  mythical  family  of  the  Jansens 
of  Manhattan  whose  share  in  the  continual  advance 
this  story  has  striven  to  sketch. 

Not  all  the  depressions  of  war  and  of  business 
reverses,  not  all  the  bungling  of  would-be  leaders 
nor  all  the  greed  of  unscrupulous  politicians,  not 
all  the  machinations  of  disturbers  of  the  public 
peace  nor  all  the  dark  deeds  of  all  the  vicious  ele- 
ments that  such  a  mingling  of  nationalities,  and  so 


274  IN  WAR   AND  -PEACE. 

unrestricted  a  flow  of  the  world's  emigration  must 
contain,  have  been  able  effectually  to  block  the 
path  of  progress  nor  to  prevent  the  real  supremacy 
of  honesty,  patriotism  and  persistence  over  those 
darker  forces  that  have  so  often,  in  less  enlight- 
ened days,  combined  for  the  overthrow  of  great  and 
powerful  States. 

It  is  the  victory  of  the  people  over  their  enemies 
and  over  themselves,  as  well,  and  may  be  regarded 
as  one  of  the  strongest  evidences  of  the  value  of 
free  institutions  and  the  worth  of  free  citizenship 
and  free  labor. 

Toward  this  progress  every  city  and  town,  every 
village  and  community,  every  farm  and  clearing 
within  the  limits  of  the  State  has  contributed.  The 
manifold  interests  of  trade  and  commerce,  of  manu- 
factures and  of  vast  capital  that  constitute  the 
strength  and  life  of  the  twin  cities  of  New  York 
and  Brooklyn  have  worked  to  achieve  the  results 
that  are  apparent  to-day;  but,  so  too,  in  equal  and 
proportionate  measure  have  these  been  brought 
about  by  the  lumber  and  the  foundries,  the  manu- 
factures and  transit  trade  of  Albany,  the  steel  works 
and  car  shops,  the  stove  foundries  and  collar  fac- 
tories of  Troy,  the  salt  works  and  rolling  mills  of 
Syracuse,  the  flouring  mills  and  clothing  factories 
of  Rochester,  the  cheese  trade  of  Rome,  the  starch 
works  and  lake  traffic  of  Oswego,  the  iron  works  and 


THE    BUSINESS    IS    YOURS  J    LET'S    GO    TO    WORK  ! 


IN  WAR   AND  PEACE.  277 

tanneries  of  Elmira,  the  nurseries  of  Geneva,  the 
commerce  and  grain  trade,  the  iron  industries  and 
railway  traffic  of  Buffalo,  the  locomotive  works  of 
Dunkirk,  the  carriage  and  boiler  shops  of  Utica, 
the  flouring  mills  and  paper  factories  of  Watertown, 
the  iron  furnaces  and  breweries  of  Poughkeepsie, 
and  all  the  other  countless  and  manifold  industries 
of  hand  and  brain  that  occupy  the  attention  and 
contribute  to  the  support  of  all  the  six  million  resi- 
dents of  the  Empire  State. 

With  the  oldest  city  in  the  nation  as  its  capital,* 
with  relics  and  reminders  of  the  heroic  days  of  its 
earliest  settlers  and  defenders  at  every  hand,  with  a 
past  of  interest  and  renown  to  inspire  and  instruct, 
it  has  a  future  that  is  full  of  possibilities  grander 
and  more  inevitable  than  even  its  sons  and  daugh- 
ters of  to-day  imagine. 

With  "  three  quarters  of  the  fresh  water  of 
the  globe "  flowing  past  her  beautiful  lake  cities 
and  with  her  chief  town  washed  by  the  waves  of 
the  great  Atlantic,  the  State  of  New  York  holds 
within  her  limits  the  very  mountain  peaks  that, 
so  the  geologists  affirm,  reared  themselves  out  of 
the  depths  of  "  chaos  and  old   night "  as  the  first 


*  The  abandonment  of  Jamestown,  the  decadence  and  insignificance  of  St.  Augustine 
and  Santa  Fd  make  Albany  the  oldest  continuous  city  in  the  United  States.  It  is,  indeed, 
as  a  recent  writer  declares,  "the  birthplace  of  the  Union,"  and  there  is  no  place  in  the 
country,  continues  the  same  writer,  "  which  is  associated  with  so  many  varied  and  far- 
reaching  facts." 


278  IN  WAR   AND  PEACE. 

tangible  suggestions  of  a  habitable  world  *  far  back 
in  the  very  beginnings  of  the  globe.  Upon  her 
western  boundaries  falls  the  greatest  known  cata- 
ract of  the  world,  while  one  of  the  noblest  and  most 
picturesque  of  rivers  cuts  through  her  eastern  limits. 
She  boasts,  as  her  metropolis,  the  fifth  city  of  the 
world  in  population,  and  the  second  in  commercial 
greatness,  and  spans  the  arm  of  the  sea  that  sepa- 
rates her  two  most  populous  cities  with  the  grandest 
suspension  bridge  in  the  world. 

Equally  great  in  her  follies  and  her  charities,  in 
her  resources  and  her  wastefulness,  the  State  of 
New  York  houses  within  her  area  of  less  than  fifty 
thousand  square  miles  a  greater  number  of  inhabi- 
tants than  has  ever  been  colonized  in  such  an 
area  within  the  same  period  of  time,  while  her 
very  vastness  alike  in  possession,  in  opportunities 
and  in  action  makes  her  in  every  phase  a  State  of 
superlatives. 

Her  intellectual  activity  is  on  a  par  with  her 
commercial  vigor.  Already,  within  her  chief  city, 
she  has  gathered  a  brilliant  circle  of  growing  writers 
who  bear  out  the  promise  of  those  earlier  days 
of  Irving  and  Cooper,  of  Bryant  and  Halleck,  of 
Hoffman  and  Drake  and  Poe,  and  give  force  to  the 
prophecy  that  New  York  City  will,  in  time,  become 

♦The  Adirondack  Region  is  said  to  be  the  oldest  portion  of  tlie  earth's  surface. 


IN  WAR  AND  PEACE.  2jq 

the  "  literary  centre  "  of  the  nation.  The  greatest 
monthly  magazines  of  the  world  are  issued  from 
her  presses.  Her  newspapers  are  centres  of  vast 
information  and  influence,  and  her  religious,  pro- 
fessional and  scientific  circles  hold  names  that  the 
world  delights  to  honor. 

In  these  later  years  she  has  tasted,  again  and 
again,  the  sweets  of  success,  the  dregs  of  shame 
and  the  bitternesses  of  failure.  Lured  on  and  in- 
toxicated by  the  fascinations  of  the  fickle  goddess 
of  speculation,  she  experienced  in  1873  one  of  the 
worst  financial  panics  of  modern  times  ;  lulled  into 
indifference  by  a  display  of  power  and  of  insolence, 
her  chief  city  lay  for  years  the  prey  of  a  gang  of 
robbers  who  fed  fat  at  the  public  crib ;  aroused  to 
action  almost  at  the  eleventh  hour,  she  crushed 
them  in  187 1  by  the  uprising  of  an  indignant  peo- 
ple only  once  more  to  fall  in  these  later  years  a 
prey  to  similar  evil  masters,  less  successful  because 
less  shrewd  and  arrogant.  Aldermanic  rinsrs  and 
legislative  rings,  canal  rings,  contract  rings  and 
railroad  rings  have  encompassed  now  the  State 
and  now  its  leading  cities,  only  to  be  repeatedly 
broken  by  the  strong  grasp  of  an  awakened  people, 
while  the  problem  of  monopoly  against  union  —  the 
old  strife  between  capital  and  labor  —  still  ever 
threatens  and  still  is  never  solved.  But,  spite  of  all 
obstacles  and  in  the  face  of  all  reverses,  progress 


280  IN  WAR   AND  PEACE. 

is  ceaseless  and  the  Empire  State  helped,  even 
by  its  hinderances,  and  made  stronger,  even  by 
its  weaknesses  moves  proudly  forward  to  the  still 
grander  and  nobler  possibilities  that  the  Future 
holds  in  store. 

And,  within  their  quiet  homes,  absorbed  in  the 
duties  that  each  day  creates,  modest,  unobtrusive, 
self-helpful,  active  and  trustworthy  the  Jansens,  and 
such  as  they,  still  keep  the  even  tenor  of  their  way, 
unmoved  by  the  glittering  unsubstantialities  that 
lure  so  many  to  loss  and  disgrace,  and  are,  in  their 
honest  and  quiet  fashion,  a  factor  in  the  great  suc- 
cess which  their  State  has  attained.  For  New 
York  is  not  all  bustle  and  rush.  Although,  as  Mr. 
Roberts  remarks,  she  "  has  never  enjoyed  the  quiet 
and  the  repose  of  Arcadia,"  there  are  still  within 
her  great  city  as  quiet  and  orderly  homes  as  in  her 
villages  and  on  her  farm  lands.  Despite  the  hurry 
and  push  of  competition  and  of  trade  the  State  still 
holds  to  many  of  the  plodding  and  patient  ways 
that  marked  the  old  Dutchman  of  the  long  ago. 
Could  that  first  Teunis  Jansen  of  Stuyvesant's  day, 
the  honest  burgher  of  the  Winckel  Street,  revisit 
the  city  which  has  gone  on  without  him  for  fully 
two  hundred  years,  he  would  stand  amazed  at  the 
marvelous  revelation  of  progress  and  of  power  that 
he  would  see.  The  Winckel  Street  was  long  since 
swallowed  up,  and  of  all   the  old  landmarks  of  his 


IN  WAR   AND   PEACE.  281 

distant  day  scarcely  a  relic  remains.  The  jingle 
of  the  telephone  and  the  click  of  the  type-writer  in 
twice  ten  thousand  offices  would  astonish  the  plod- 
ding shopkeeper  of  two  centuries  ago,  wedded  to 
his  ponderous  methods  of  accounting;  the  flash  of 
the  electric  light  would  blind  his  flickering  dip  and 
dull  horn  lantern ;  the  whirr  of  the  mowing  machine 
and  the  clatter  of  the  thresher  would  confound  the 
patient  wielder  of  scythe  and  flail,  and  the  fleet  of 
swift  steamers  crowding  through  the  Narrows  with 
goods  scarce  ten  days  out  from  the  old  world,  would 
make  him  think  that  the  black  art  he  so  feared  had 
in  truth  come  to  trouble  and  mislead  mankind. 

But,  though  methods  change,  human  hearts  re- 
main the  same.  The  good  Knickerbocker  bread- 
winner of  the  long  ago  would  find  his  descendants 
the  same  honest,  active,  hopeful,  slow-going  work- 
ers that  he  and  his  children  were,  and  he  would  see 
in  just  such  earnest,  willing,  devoted,  home-loving 
folk  the  real  people  of  the  State  —  the  source  of  its 
strength,  its  prosperity  and  its  wealth. 

The  workman  dies,  but  the  work  goes  on.  Since 
first  the  Spanish  explorers  —  three  hundred  and 
seventy  years  ago  —  stood  by  the  beautiful  waters 
of  Onondaga  Lake  and  wrought  their  Castilian 
speech  into  the  Indian  names  of  lake  and  island, 
river  and  mountain,  the  march  of  white  occupation 
in   the    Empire   State    has    gone   steadily  forward. 


282  IN  WAR   AND   PEACE. 

To-day  six  millions  of  people  possess  the  land  that 
then  one  fierce  Indian  confederacy  of  scarce  six 
thousand  barbarians  held  and  dominated.  Within 
the  boundaries  of  that  forest  republic  a  sovereign 
State  has  risen  to  possession  and  power.  And  this 
result  has  been  achieved  by  the  unceasing  union  of 
just  such  elements  of  honest  endeavor,  earnest  pur- 
pose, sturdy  strength  and  practical  common  sense 
as  in  the  day  of  beginnings  two  centuries  and  more 
ago  marked  the  first  of  the  name,  Jansen,  the  honest 
burgher  of  the  Winckel  Street,  in  the  early  days  of 
rude  and  crude  New  Amsterdam. 


APPENDIX 


THE    STORY    OF    NEW    YORK 


TOLD    IN    CHRONOLOGICAL   EPITOME. 

Chronology  is  the  best  index  to  the  past.  The  progress  of  a  people  is 
most  surely  epitomized  by  the  orderly  presentation  of  the  dates  of  such 
historical  happenings  as  tell  the  real  story  of  a  state  or  a  nation.  As  the 
fitting  complement  to  the  story  of  New  York  already  sketched  in  the 
preceding  pages  the  same  story  is  here  retold  in  epitome  by  the  grouping 
of  chronological  sequences. 

It  begins  away  back  in  the  mists  of  antiquity.  Pre-historic  New  York  has 
a  story  as  full  of  interest  and  romance,  of  struggle,  advance,  decline  and 
progress  again  as  has  its  later  record,  but  of  those  pre-historic  days  but  scant 
remains  exist.  The  pick  of  the  archaeologist  and  the  research  of  the  anti- 
quarian reveal  for  us  a  few  of  these  data,  but  the  record  of  thousands  of  years 
can  be  told  almost  in  a  paragraph. 

THE    ERA    OF    BEGINNINGS. 

Discoveries  made  at  High  Rock  Spring,  Saratoga,  disclose  the  first  traces 
of  the  aboriginal  American  in  a  past  of  very  great  antiquity.  The  pre- 
historic peoples  known  as  the  "  Cave  Dwellers "  probably  occupied  New 
York  State  as  early  as  from  10,000  to  25,000  b.  c. 

Remains  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  enclosures  —  fortifications,  walls,  tem- 
ples and  home-sites  —  in  Western  New  York  show  that  portion  of  the  State 
to  have  been,  for  ages,  the  home  of  the  semi-civilized  people  known  as  the 
"  Mound-Builders,"  and  as  late,  probably,  as  1000  B.  c. 

From  this  estimated  date  until  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century  a.  d.  the 
State  was  occupied  by  nomadic  Indian  tribes  who  were,  about  the  year  1405, 
driven  out  by  a  branch  of  the  Western  Dakotas  known  as  Ho-de-no-sau-nee, 
or  Iroquois.  This  powerful  Indian  republic  of  five  confederated  tribes  held 
possession  of  the  State  at  the  time  of  its  colonization  by  Europeans  in  the 
early  years  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

At  just  what  remote  period  of  time  the  State  was  first  visited  by  Euro- 
peans it  is  impossible  to  determine.  Phoenician  adventurers  before  the 
days  of  the  Argonauts  or  Basque  fishermen  in  the  opening  years  of  the  first 
Christian  centuries  may  have  seen  the  river  we  now  call  the  Hudson.  There 
is  reason  for  thinking  that  in  the  summer  of  the  year  1003  Lief  the  son  of 
Eric,  or  certain  of  his  Norse  followers,  explored  the  Bay  of  New  York  and 
saw  the  Palisades  of  the  Hudson  ;  there  is  a  slight  possibility  that  the  eight 

283 


284  ERA    OF  COLONIZATION. 


Arabian  sailors  who  sailed  westward  from  Moorish  Lisbon  about  1140  may 
have  ventured  into  the  Bay  of  New  York;  there  is  a  possibility,  even  less 
slight,  that  the  followers  of  the  legendary  Welsh  prince  Madoc  sighted  the 
hills  of  Navesink  in  n 70.  All  this,  however,  is  largely  conjecture  with  but 
a  trifling  basis  of  fact. 

Either  the  companions  or  the  successors  of  Columbus,  pushing  to  the 
northward,  between  the  years  1500  and  1520  explored  New  York's  water- 
ways, penetrating  even  into  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk  ;  Americus  Vespucius 
may  have  sighted  the  Staten  Island  hills  in  1497  ;  John  Cabot  in  the  same 
year  may  have  coasted  through  Long  Island  Sound  and  in  1498  Sebastian 
Cabot,  his  son,  it  seems  possible,  sailed  into  the  Bay  of  New  York.  The 
memorial  stone  unearthed  at  Pompey,  Onondaga  County,  and  bearing  the  date 
of  1520,  is  an  evidence  of  Spanish  visitation,  and  the  ruins  of  a  fort  on  Castle 
Island,  below  Albany,  display  Spanish  workmanship  and  have  been  attributed 
to  the  same  period.  Giovanni  da  Verrazano  sailed  his  caravel  the  Dau- 
phine  into  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson  in  April,  1524,  and  Estevan  Gomez, 
toward  the  close  of  the  same  year,  explored  and  made  a  chart  of  the  broad 
Bay  of  New  York.  The  French  Franciscan  Andre  Thevet  saw  New  York 
harbor  in  the  early  spring  of  1556  and  through  succeeding  years  Spanish, 
French  and  English  adventurers  sighted  or  touched  at  the  coast  about  "  the 
Manhattans." 

In  1569  David  Ingram  with  two  companions,  following  the  Indian  trails, 
on  an  enforced  pedestrian  trip  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  Massachusetts 
Bay  crossed  the  southeastern  portion  of  New  York  State. 

About  the  first  of  July,  1609,  Samuel  de  Champlain  entered  New  York  State 
from  Canada.  He  explored  Lake  Champlain  and  on  July  29  he  defeated  the 
Iroquois  near  the  present  site  of  Ticonderoga,  and  set  afoot  the  enmity  that 
ever  after  kept  France  from  the  possession  of  the  Iroquois  country. 

On  the  morning  of  September  1,  1609,  Henry  Hudson  in  the  Dutch  ship 
Half  Moon  dropped  anchor  in  New  York  harbor  and  the  uncertain  days 
of  beginnings  and  discoveries  gave  place  to 

THE    ERA    OF    COLONIZATION. 

1609.  Hudson  explored  the  Hudson  River  from  Manhattan  island  to 
Albany  —  September  12-23. 

1612.  Christiasnsen  and  Block  sailed  for  the  Manhattans. 

1613.  Christiaensen  built  Fort  Nassau,  the  "  strong  house,"  on  Castle 
Island  below  Albany,  erected  a  few  huts  on  Manhattan  Island  and  launched 
a  new  boat,  the  Onrest,  near  the  present  "  Battery." 

1614.  Amsterdam  merchants  obtained  a  charter  for  trading  in  the  New 
Netherlands  —  October  11. 

1615.  Champlain  fought  the  Iroquois  near  Oneida  Lake  —  October  10. 
Returned  to  Canada  —  October  16. 

1617.  Jacob  Eelkens,  near  Albany,  formed  an  alliance  with  the  Iroquois  — 
the  "  Treaty  of  Tawasenetha." 


ERA    OF  COLONIZATION.  285 


1618.     The  Amsterdam  merchants  were  refused  renewal  of  charter. 

1620.  States  General  refused  to  allow  the  Puritans  to  colonize  the  New 
Netherlands  —  April  11. 

1621.  States  General  granted  charter  to  the  Dutch  West  India  Company 
—  June. 

1622.  West  India  Company  took  formal  possession  of  the  New  Nether- 
lands —  December. 

1623.  Albany  settled  by  the  Walloons.     Fort  Orange  built. 

1624.  Amsterdam  Chamber  sent  out  the  ship  New  Netherlands  with  colo- 
nists.      Cornelis  Jacobsen  Mey  director —  March. 

1625.  William  Verhulst  succeeded  Mey  as  director.     Brooklyn  settled. 

1626.  Peter  Minuit  arrived  at  New  Netherlands  as  Director  General. 
Manhattan  Island  purchased  from  the  Indians  for  twenty-four  dollars  — 
May  6.  Establishment  of  friendly  relations  with  Plymouth  Settlement  — 
October. 

1629.  States  General  confirmed  the  scheme  of  the  Company  creating  the 
feudal  rights  of  the  "  patroons  " —  June  7. 

1630.  Kilian  Van  Renssalaer  purchased  territory  around  Fort  Orange  as 
patroon  of  Rensalaersvvyck.  Michael  Pauw  as  patroon  bought  Staten 
Island  and  the  present  site  of  Jersey  City,  calling  it  Pavonia. 

1632.  Controversy  between  Company  and  Patroons.  Recall  of  Minuit. 
England  claimed  the  New  Netherlands. 

1633.  Wouter  Van  Twiller  succeeded  as  Director  General.  Erection  of 
Fort  at  New  Amsterdam.  Jacob  Eelkens'  visit  to  Manhattan.  Van  Twiller 
forced  him  to  sail  away.  Dutch  built  a  fort  near  Hartford.  Remonstrances 
of  the  English.  Van  Twiller  expelled  English  from  Fort  Nassau.  Settle- 
ment on  Manhattan  received  the  name  of  New  Amsterdam. 

1636.  Controversy  between  Van  Twiller  and  Van  Dinklagen.  Van 
Twiller  recalled.  Purchase  of  Pavonia  from  its  Patroon  by  West  India 
Company. 

1638.  Wilhelm  Kieft  arrived  at  Manhattan  as  governor  —  March  28. 
Swedes  build  Fort  Christina  on  Dutch  lands  on  the  Delaware. 

1639.  New  Charter  of  Privileges  granted  to  Colonists  by  Company. 

1640.  Large  territory  in  King's  and  Queen's  counties  purchased. 
Kieft  proclaimed  ordinance  of  non-intercourse  with  Connecticut  colonists. 
Kieft  sent  an  armed  force  against  Raritan  Indians.  Slaughter  of  Raritan 
Indians.     Burning  of  De  Vries'  plantation. 

1641.  Declaration  of  war  against  the  savages.  General  council  of  prin- 
cipal citizens  convened — August  23.  The  "Twelve  Men"  appointed  by 
the  colonists  to  represent  them  —  August  28.  Expedition  against  West- 
chester Indians. 

1642.  Kieft  quarrelled  with  the  "Twelve  Men  "  and  disbanded  the  com- 
mittee. 

1643.  Massacre  of  Indians  at  Pavonia  and  Corlaer's  Hook  —  February  25. 
Colonists  attacked  by  the  Indians  in  turn.      Hempstead  settled. 

1644.  Aid  of  the  New  Haven  Colony  successfully  invoked.     Massacre 


286  ERA    OF  ENGLISH  DOMINION. 


of  Long  Island  Indians.  Massacre  of  Indians  at  Greenwich  under 
Underhill. 

1645.  Peace  concluded  with  Indians  on  the  Bowling  Green.  Flushing 
settled. 

1646.  Yonkers  settled. 

1647.  Kieft  recalled.      Peter   Stuyvesant  succeeded  as  director  general 

—  May  n.  Kuyter  and  Melyn  banished  as  "  popular  agitators  "  —  July  11. 
Representative  Council  of  nine  members  organized.  Adjustment  of  bounda- 
ries between  New  England  and  Dutch  Colonies. 

1652.     Burgher  governments   established    at   Manhattan   and   Brooklyn 

—  April  4. 

1654.  Intrigues  of  the  English  for  the  conquest  of  the  Province.  Exten- 
sion of  increased  municipal  powers  to  colonists.     Oswego  settled. 

1655.  Reconquest  of  the  Swedish  Forts  on  Delaware.  Renewal  of 
Indian  hostilities — September  15.  Indians  attacked  Pavonia,  Hoboken, 
Long  and  Manhattan  Islands.     Restoration  of  peace. 

1656.  Jamaica  settled. 

1657.  Kingston  (Esopus)  settled. 

1659.  Arendt  Van  Curler  concluded  a  peace  with  the  Iroquois.  Septem- 
ber 17. 

1660.  Van  Curler  concluded  a  treaty  with  the  non-Iroquois  tribes,  at 
Esopus. 

1661.  Schenectady  settled. 

1664.  Popular  assembly  of  the  whole  colony  convened  at  New  Amsterdam 

—  April  10.  Vexatious  controversies  writh  English  Colonies.  Grant  of 
patent  by  Charles  II.  of  England  giving  the  New  Netherlands  to  the  Duke 
of  York.  Arrival  of  English  fleet.  Surrender  of  Dutch  demanded.  Capitu- 
lation of  Stuyvesant  —  September  3.  Name  of  New  York  given  to  the  colony 
and  its  chief  city  —  September  8.  Fort  Orange  called  Albany —  September 
23.     New  Jersey  transferred  to  Lord  Berkeley. 

THE    ERA    OF    ENGLISH    DOMINION. 

1665.  Col.  Nichols  first  English  governor.  City  Charter  remodelled. 
Promulgation  of  "The  Duke's  Laws."  Executive  power  vested  in  mayor 
and  aldermen.  Power  to  enact  laws  and  impose  taxes  to  belong  to  governor 
and  council. 

1668.     Recall  of  Nichols.     Col.  Francis  Lovelace  governor. 
1670.     First  New  York  Exchange  established  —  March  24. 

1672.  War  between  England  and  Holland. 

1673.  Dutch  Squadron  anchored  at  Staten  Island  —  July  29.  City  sur- 
rendered to  the  Dutch  by  Captain  Manning,  in  the  absence  of  Governor 
Lovelace — July  30.     Administration   of    Captain  Anthony  Colve. 

1674.  Territory  restored  to  English  by  treaty  —  February  19.  Major 
Edmund  Andros  appointed  governor —  November.  Arbitrary  Measures  of 
Andros. 


ERA    OF  ENGLISH  DOMINION.  287 


1678.  The  "  Bolting  Act  "  secured  to  citizens  of  New  York  the  exclusive 
right  of  bolting  and  exporting  flour  —  a  source  of  great  revenue  to  the  colony. 

1679.  Indian  slavery  abolished. 

1680.  Andros  summoned  to  England.     Recall  of  Andros. 

1682.  Purchase  of  the  Delaware  settlements  by  William  Penn.  Long 
Island  annexed  to  New  York. 

1683.  Colonel  Thomas  Dongan  governor — August  27.  Representative 
Assembly  called  —  October  17.  Charter  of  Liberty  framed  vesting  power 
in  governor,  council  and  people.  Right  of  suffrage  conferred  on  free- 
holders and  trial  by  jury  established.  Delegates  to  assembly  apportioned 
in  accordance  to  population.  Province  divided  into  twelve  counties  with 
rwenty-one  representatives.  Arbitrary  exactions  of  James  II.  Intro- 
duction of  Catholic  interference. 

1684.  Virginia  and  New  York  conclude  at  Albany  treaty  of  peace  with 
the  Iroquois  — July  30.     Attempt  to  establish  a  fort  at  Niagara  frustrated. 

1685.  Castleton  and  Middletown  settled. 

1686.  New  York  and  New  England  consolidated  into  the  Province  of 
New  England  —  June  3. 

1688.  Governor  Dongan  recalled.  Francis  Nicholson  appointed  gov- 
ernor—  August.  Revolution  of  1689  in  England  led  to  serious  complica- 
tions in  America.     People  divided  into  Royalist  and  Democratic  parties. 

1689.  Massachusetts  broke  the  provincial  union  —  April  18.  Nicholson 
left  his  post,  and  the  people  of  New  York  revolted  and  conferred  the  chief 
power  upon  Captain  Jacob  Leisler  —  May  31.  Opposition  to  Leisler  in 
north  part  of  province.  Recognition  of  the  Leisler  government  by  William 
and  Mary.  The  people  delegated  the  civil  and  military  command  to  Leisler. 
Council  of  advisers  appointed. 

1690.  Schenectady  burned  by  French  and  Indians,  sixty  of  inhabitants 
killed — February.  First  Continental  Congress  met  at  New  York  —  May  1. 
Leisler  sent  a  naval  expedition  against  Quebec  and  Montreal.  Poughkeepsie 
and  Fishkill  settled. 

1691.  Arrival  of  Major  Ingoldsby  announcing  appointment  of  Colonel 
Sloughter  as  governor.  Ingoldsby  demanded  surrender  of  Fort.  Leisler 
refused  to  surrender  government  except  to  Sloughter.  Arrival  of  Sloughter 
—  March  19.  Arrest  of  Leisler  and  Milborne  —  March  20.  Their  trial  and 
execution — May  15.  Renewal  of  treaties  with  Iroquois  at  Albany.  Popular 
assembly  convened.  Liberal  Constitution  formed.  Death  of  Sloughter  — 
August  2. 

1692.  Benjamin  Fletcher  governor.  Signal  defeat  of  French  near  Lake 
Cham  plain. 

1693.  William  Bradford  established  the  first  printing  press  in  New 
York.  Church  controversy.  Act  passed  recognizing  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  as  the  established  church  of  the  Province —  September. 

1695.      Fletcher  recalled.     Act  of  Attainder  against  Leisler  repealed. 
i6g6.     Trinity   Church  opened  for  worship  —  February.      Armed  vessel 
fitted  out  under  Captain  Kidd  for  repression  of  piracy  —  April. 


288  ERA    OF  ENGLISH  DOMINION. 


1697.  Peace  of  Rvswick.     Kidd  turned  priate. 

1698.  Earl  of  Bellomont  governor  —  April  2.  Stock  Company  organized 
for  suppression  of  pirates. 

1699.  Lord  Bellomont  attaches  himself  to  the  people's  party.  New  Assem- 
bly of  democratic  proclivities  convened  —  May  18.  Acts  passed  for  suppres- 
sion of  piracy  and  indemnity  to  state  offenders.  Families  of  Leisler  and 
Millborne  reinstated  in  forfeited  possessions.  Kidd  arrested  in  Boston  — 
July. 

1701.  Death  of  Bellomont — March  5.  Lieutenant-Governor  Nanfan 
acting-governor.  Trial  and  conviction  of  Nicholas  Bayard  for  treason  — 
March  7.     Kidd  executed  in  England  —  May  12. 

1702.  Arrival  of  Lord  Cornbury  as  Governor  of  New  York  and  New 
Jersey —  May  3. 

1705.  Grammar  School  established ;  Andrew  Clarke  appointed  master. 
Dissatisfaction  with  Cornbury.     His  recall. 

1708.  Lord  Lovelace,  governor  —  December  18.     Newburg  settled. 

1709.  Death  of  Lovelace  —  May  6.  Government  left  in  hands  of  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor Ingoldsby.  Expedition  fitted  out  against  Montreal.  Failure 
of  expediton.     Ingoldsby  removed. 

1710.  Robert  Hunter,  governor  —  June.  Arrival  of  three  thousand  Ger- 
man immigrants. 

1711.  Unsuccessful  expedition  of  four  thousand  men  against  Canada. 
Refusal  of  Assembly  to  grant  permanent  appropriation  for  support  of  gov- 
ernment.    Supplies  for  a  single  year  furnished. 

1712.  Rumored  insurrection  of  negroes  creates  a  panic  —  April  6.  Execu- 
tion of  twenty-one  negroes. 

1715.  Protracted  contests  between  Governor  and  Assembly  as  to  revenue. 
Court  of  Chancery  established  and  confirmed.  Lewis  Morris  appointed 
Chief-Justice  of  province. 

1719.  Retirement  of  Governor  Hunter.  Peter  Schuyler  of  Albany, 
acting-governor.     Restoration  of  amicable  relations  with  Iroquois. 

1720.  William  Burnet,  governor  —  September  17.  Revenue  voted  to 
him  for  five  years. 

1722.  Erection  of  a  trading-post  at  Oswego.  German  immigrants  settle 
in  Mohawk  Valley.  Congress  of  provincial  governors  and  commissioners  at 
Albany.  Memorial  forwarded  to  the  king.  Assembly  refused  renewal  of 
supplies  for  more  than  three  years. 

1725.  Bradford  started  the  New  York  "  Gazette  "  as  the  governor's  organ 
—  October  16. 

1727.  Dissolution  of  Assembly  by  governor.  The  succeeding  Assembly 
dissolved.  Burnet  transferred  to  Massachusetts.  Law  prohibiting  French 
trade  repealed. 

1728.  John  Montgomerie  succeeded  as  governor  —  April  15.  Grant  of 
new  city  charter. 

1731.  Death  of  Montgomerie — July  I.     Rip  Van  Dam  acting-governor. 

1732.  Colonel  William  Cosby,  governor  —  August  1. 


ERA    OF  ENGLISH  DOMINION. 


1733.  Cosby  demanded  half  of  Van  Dam's  salary.  Van  Dam  demanded 
half  of  Cosby's  perquisites.  Van  Dam  tried  and  condemned  to  pay  amount. 
Morris  removed  from  office  and  De  Lancey  appointed.  New  York  "  Weekly 
Journal  "  started  by  John  Peter  Zenger  as  an  opposition  organ  —  November  5. 

1734.  Attacks  on  the  government  in  New  York  "Journal."  Zenger 
arrested  —  November  17. 

1735.  Zenger  tried  for  seditious  libel — July.  Acquittal  of  Zenger  and 
triumph  of  popular  cause  —  August  4.     Oppressive  proceedings  of  Cosby. 

1736.  Cosby's  death  —  March  10.  Exclusion  of  Rip  Van  Dam  as  his 
successor.  George  Clarke  appointed  Lieutenant-Governor  by  commission 
—  October  14. 

1737.  Assembly  dissolved  and  a  new  one  called  —  April.  Revenue 
granted  for  one  year  and  no  longer.     Disfranchisement  of  Jews. 

1741.  Fire  in  New  York —  March  18.  Negroes  accused  of  plot  to  burn 
the  town.  One  hundred  and  fifty-four  negroes  and  twenty-one  whites  arrested. 
Thirty-four  negroes  and  four  whites  executed.  The  reign  of  terror  stop- 
ped —  September  24. 

1743.  Admiral  George  Clinton  appointed  governor  —  September  2.  Act 
passed  limiting  term  of  Assembly  to  seven  years.  Dissensions  of  Clinton 
with  Assembly.     Popular  discontent. 

1745.  Saratoga  destroyed  by  French  and  Indians — November  16. 

1746.  Sir  William  Johnson  made  head  of  the  Indian  Department  — 
September.     Continued  opposition  to  Clinton. 

1748.     Great  Indian  council  at  Albany  —  July  20. 

I753-  Resignation  of  Clinton.  Sir  Danvers  Osborne  succeeded  as 
governor  —  October  10.  Suicide  of  Osborne — October  n.  Lieutenant- 
Governor  DeLancey  assumed  charge. 

1754.  Congress  of  colonial  deputies  at  Albany  —  June  19.  Renewal  of 
treaties  with  Iroquois  —  July  11. 

x755-  Sir  Charles  Hardy  governor  —  September  3.  Hardy  returns  to 
England  leaving  De  Lancey  in  charge.  Beginning  of  French  and  Indian  War. 
Meeting  of  the  Colonial  governors  at  New  York  —  April  14.  Campaign 
against  Canada  planned.  Great  Indian  council  on  Sir  William  Johnson's 
estate.  Erection  of  Fort  Edward.  Camp  on  Lake  George.  Battle  of  Lake 
George  ;  defeat  of  the  French —  September  8.     Rome  settled. 

1756.  Lord  Loudoun,  Governor  of  Virginia,  took  command.  Fort  Bull 
captured  by  the  French  —  March  27.  Colonel  Bradstreet  defeats  the  French 
at  Sandy  Creek  —  July  12.  Neutrality  of  a  portion  of  the  Iroquois  tribes. 
Montcalm  captures  Forts  Ontario  and  Oswego  —  August  14. 

1757.  Siege  of  Fort  William  Henry.  Surrender  of  the  Fort  —  August  9. 
Massacre  of  the  garrison  by  the  Indians.  Massacre  at  Palatine  Village  — 
November  12. 

1758.  General  Abercrombie  took  command.  Siege  of  Louisburg — July 
8.  Attack  upon  Fort  Ticonderoga ;  its  repulse — July  8.  Surrender  of 
Louisburg  —  July  26.  Attack  upon  Fort  Frontenac  by  Bradstreet ;  its  cap- 
ture— August  27.     Capture  of  Fort  Du  (^uesne  —  November  24. 


290  ERA    OF  ENGLISH  DOMINION. 


1759.  Amherst  succeeded  Abercrombie.  Ticonderoga  abandoned  by 
French — July  26.  Capture  of  Crown  Point  and  Niagara  —  July.  Wolfe 
takes  Quebec  —  September  17.     Capture  of  Montreal  —  September  8. 

1760.  Lieutenant-Governor  De  Lancey  died — July  30.  Succeeded  by 
Cadwallader  Colden  acting-governor. 

1761.  Sir  William  Johnson  visits  the  Iroquois  tribes.  General  Robert 
Monckton  appointed  governor — April  28.  Pratt  named  as  chief-justice. 
Has  appointment  only  to  hold  at  King's  pleasure.  Indignation  of  the 
people. 

1762.  Assembly  refused  to  appoint  salary  for  chief-justice. 

1763.  Sandy  Hook  Lighthouse  built. 

1765.  Stamp  Act  passed  by  Parliament — March  22.  Sons  of  Liberty 
organized.  Meeting  of  the  First  Colonial  Congress  in  New  York  — 
October  7.  Congress  asserted  rights  of  Colonies  to  tax  themselves.  Ship 
with  stamps  arrives  in  New  York  harbor  —  October  23.  Meeting  of  mer- 
chants to  protest  —  October  31.  Statement  of  grievances  sent  to  King 
and  Parliament.  Act  took  effect  —  November  1.  McEvers,  the  stamp 
agent,  resigned  his  commission.  Merchants  agreed  to  stop  all  importa- 
tion from  England.  Parade  of  Sons  of  Liberty.  The  governor  burnt 
in  effigy.  House  of  Major  James  rifled.  Attempt  to  obtain  possession 
of  the  Stamps.  Governor  Colden  delivered  up  stamps  to  Mayor.  General 
agreement  in  non-intercourse  policy  by  colonies.  Articles  of  confedera- 
tion proposed  and  adopted.  Arrival  of  Sir  Henry  Moore  as  governor  — 
November  13.  Peter  De  Lancey  appointed  stamp  director.  De  Lancey 
resigned  his  commission.  New  supply  of  stamps  for  Connecticut  burned 
by  Sons  of  Liberty.  Assembly  confirmed  the  proceedings  of  Colonial 
Congress. 

1766.  Repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act  —  February  20.  Parliament  declared 
right  to  tax  colonies  at  pleasure.  News  of  the  repeal  reached  New  York 
—  May  20.  Celebrations  in  Colonies.  Liberty  pole  raised  —  June  4. 
Controversy  between  Governor  and  Assembly — June.  Liberty  pole  cut 
down  by  English  soldiers  —  August  10.  Disturbance  between  soldiers  and 
patriots.  Assembly  refused  to  comply  with  demands  of  government  for 
military  supplies.  Assembly  induced  to  consent  to  an  additional  appropria- 
tion.    Legislative  powers  of  Assembly  suspended  by  Parliament. 

1767.  Assembly  disregarded  this  act  of  Parliament.  Tax  on  tea,  glass, 
paper,  etc.,  passed.     Renewal  of  non-importation  agreement  by  merchants. 

1768.  New  Assembly  met.  Resolutions  strongly  declaratory  of  their 
rights  passed.     Assembly  dissolved. 

1769.  New  Assembly  convened  —  April  4.  Military  appropriation  re- 
newed. Death  of  Governor  Moore  —  September  11.  Cadwallader  Colden 
again  governor.  Assembly  convened  —  November  21.  Supplies  for  troops 
obtained  by  coalition  between  governor  and  Dc  Lancey.  Inflammatory  hand- 
bills condemning  Assembly  circulated.  Public  meeting  held,  proceedings  of 
Assembly  condemned  —  December  18.  Passage  of  bill  for  issue  of  Colonial 
bill  of  credit. 


ERA    OF  REVOLUTION.  291 


THE    ERA    OF    REVOLUTION. 


1770.  John  Lamb  arrested  for  presiding  over  public  meeting.  Alex- 
ander MacDougal,  author  of  inflammatory  handbills,  imprisoned.  Liberty 
Pole  demolished  again  —  January  17.  Public  meeting  of  the  citizens.  Res- 
olutions denouncing  conduct  of  the  soldiery  passed.  Arrest  of  soldiers  by 
Sons  of  Liberty  —  January  18.  Attempt  at  release  by  the  comrades.  Battle 
of  Golden  Hill  —  January  18.  Conflict  renewed  —  January  19.  Erection  of 
a  new  liberty  pole  —  February  6.  Renewed  attack  upon  pole.  Successful 
defence  by  Sons  of  Liberty — March  29.  Sons  of  Liberty  burn  effigy  of 
merchant  who  violated  non-importation  agreement.  Repeal  of  duties  except 
on  tea.  Committee  of  one  hundred  make  non-importation  except  on  tea. 
Colden  superseded  by  Lord  Dunmore  as  governor  —  October  25. 

1771.  Proceedings  against  MacDougal  —  January.  MacDougal  com- 
mitted to  prison.  Lord  Dunmore  transferred  to  Virginia.  William  Tryon 
appointed  governor  —  July.  Tryon  refuses  to  accept  any  salary  from 
assembly. 

1772.  New  York  Hospital  founded. 

1773.  Government  remitted  duties  on  tea  except  3  d.  a  pound.  Large 
shipments  of  tea  made  on  this  basis.  Sons  of  Liberty  renew  their  pledges 
condemning    purchase    of    tea  —  November   27.     Saratoga  settled. 

1774.  Tryon  resigned  the  government  —  April  7.  Colden  his  succes- 
sor again.  Arrival  of  tea-ships  —  April  18.  New  York  Tea  Party  — 
April  22.  Tea  ships  forced  to  return  to  England  by  vigilance  committee  — 
April  23.  Meeting  of  the  citizens  —  May  19.  Committee  of  fifty-one  formed 
to  renew  non-importation  agreement.  Public  meeting ;  non-importation 
agreement  renewed  and  a  colonial  congress  recommended  — July  6.  Second 
Colonial  Congress  assembled  at  Philadelphia — September.  Declaration 
of  Rights. 

1775.  Assembly  addressed  a  strong  remonstrance  to  Parliament.  As- 
sembly adjourned —  April  3.  First  Provincial  Assembly  of  delegates  from 
Counties  met  —  April  20.  Five  delegates  appointed  to  Continental  Con- 
gress. Second  Provincial  Congress  met  at  New  York  —  May  22.  Congress 
authorized  raising  of  regiments.  Arrival  of  the  Asia.  Sons  of  Liberty  take 
possession  of  City  Hall.  Supplies  seized  from  ships  in  harbor.  Provi- 
sional government  established  —  May  5.  Capture  of  ammunition  at  Turtle 
Bay.  Embarkation  of  the  royal  troops  for  Boston.  Recapture  of  arms  by 
the  citizens.  Capture  of  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point  —  May  9.  Arnold's 
victory  on  Lake  Champlain  —  May  18.  Tryon  resumed  his  office  —  June 
25.  Organization  of  four  regiments  as  the  quota  of  New  York.  Removal 
of  the  guns  from  the  Battery.  Cannonade  of  the  City  by  the  Asia.  Tryon 
abdicated.  Demolition  of  the  Royalist  press.  Ticonderoga  fortified. 
Unsuccessful  attempt  to  invade  Canada.  Capture  of  St.  Johns  —  November 
2.  Surrender  of  Montreal  —  November  12.  Siege  of  Quebec  by  Arnold 
and  Montgomery  —  December  3.     Death  of  Montgomery —  December  30. 

1776.  Continuance  of  Siege  by  Arnold  and  Wooster — April.     Arrival 


292  ERA    OF  REVOLUTION. 


of  Burgoyne  and  retreat  of  Americans  —  May.  Defence  of  New  York  — 
April.  General  and  Lord  Howe  and  Sir  Henry  Clinton  invested  New  York 
—  July.  Declaration  of  Independence — July  4.  Battle  of  Long  Island  — 
August  27.  Surrender  of  Sullivan  and  defeat  of  Americans — August  29. 
Withdrawal  to  New  York  —  Great  fire  in  New  York  —  September  21. 
Execution  of  Nathan  Hale  —  September  21.  Evacuation  of  the  city. 
Skirmish  at  Harlem.  Retreat  of  Washington  to  White  Plains.  Battle 
of  White  Plains  —  October  28.  Capture  of  Forts  Washington  and  Lee 
by  the  British  —  November  16.  Retreat  of  Washington  across  Dela- 
ware—  December  8.  Naval  combat  on  Lake  Champlain — October  11. 
Surrender  of  Crown  Point.     Occupation  of  New  York  by  the  British. 

1777.  Convention  of  delegates  from  counties  met  at  Kingston  —  April. 
First  State  Constitution  adopted — April  20.  Election  of  Governor;  ap- 
pointment of  state  officers.  Attack  on  Ticonderoga  —  July  2.  Retreat  of 
St.  Clair.  Battle  of  Oriskany;  defeat  of  British — August  7.  Burgoyne 
massed  his  army  at  Crown  Point — June  27  ;  he  advanced  to  Saratoga  — 
September  14.  Battle  of  Bemis  Heights  or  Stillwater  —  September  19. 
Second  Battle  of  Stillwater — October  7.  Surrender  of  Burgoyne  at  Sara- 
toga—  October  11.  Capture  of  Forts  Clinton,  Montgomery  and  Consti- 
tution —  October  17.     Gates  joins  Washington  in  Pennsylvania. 

1778.  Destruction  of  Cobbleskill,  by  the  Indians  and  tories — June  1. 
Attack  upon  Cherry  Valley  —  November  11. 

1779.  British  capture  and  Americans  recapture  of  Stony  Point  and  Ver- 
planck's  Point  —  May  30  and  July  16.  Attack  of  Brant  at  Minisink  —  July 
19.  Battle  of  Minisink.  General  Sullivan  and  Clinton's  expedition  against 
the  Indians.     Defeat  of  the  Indians  at  Elmira  —  August. 

1780.  Affair  at  Young  House  near  Tarrytown  —  February  3.  Benedict 
Arnold  appointed  to  command  of  West  Point — August  3.  Arnold  holds 
treasonable  correspondence  with  Andre.  Arrangements  made  for  interview 
between  them.  Interview  between  Arnold  and  Andre —September  21. 
Andre's  capture  at  Tarrytown — September  23.  Escape  of  Arnold.  Con- 
viction of  Andre.     Execution  of  Andre  at  Tappan  —  October  2. 

1781.  French  troops  united  with  the  American  army  at  Dobb's  Ferry  — 
July  4.  The  allied  armies  left  New  York  for  Virginia  —  August  19.  Sur- 
render of  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown  —  October  19. 

1782.  Sir  Guy  Carleton  assumed  command  of  British  troops  at  New 
York  —  May.  Transfer  of  New  York's  western  lands  to  the  nation  accepted 
by  Congress  —  October  31.  American  army  went  into  winter  quarters  at 
Newburg  —  October. 

1783.  Washington  at  Newburg  refused  to  be  made  king  of  the  United 
States — March.  Popular  meeting  at  Fort  Plain  banished  tories  from  the 
Mohawk  Valley  —  May  9.  Treaty  of  Peace  signed  —  September  3.  Evacu- 
ation of  New  York  by  the  British  —  November  25.  Washington  took  leave 
of  the  army  officers  at  Fraunces'  tavern,  New  York  —  December  4.  Hudson 
settled. 

1784.  State    legislature    assembled    at    New    York — January    21.     Act 


ERA    OF  FORMATION.  293 


passed  establishing  custom  house  and  revenue  system.  Congress  removed 
to  New  York  City  —  December  23.  Legislature  passed  acts  disfranchising 
tories. 

1785.  Legislature  made  duties  payable  to  Congress  in  State's  bills  of 
credit.  Congress  requested  Governor  Clinton  to  convene  Legislature  for 
reconsideration  of  this  measure.  Governor  Clinton  refuses.  Convention 
of  commissioners  from  States  to  form  system  of  commercial  regulations  — 
September.  Recommendations  for  the  call  of  a  national  convention  to  revise 
articles  of  confederation.     Troy  and  Utica  settled. 

1786.  Syracuse  settled. 

1787.  Approval  of  Governor's  course  by  Legislature.  Appointment  of 
delegates  to  the  National  Convention.  Legislature  limits  their  powers  to 
revision  of  Articles  of  Confederation.  Disfranchising  act  against  tories 
repealed.  Meeting  of  the  National  Convention  —  May.  Delegation  from 
New  York  except  Hamilton,  withdraw  from  convention,  believing  the  con- 
vention to  exceed  its  powers.  Constitution  adopted  —  September  17.  Pub- 
lication of  "  Federalist  "  articles  by  Hamilton.  Geneva  and  Binghamton 
settled. 

THE    ERA    OF    FORMATION. 

1788.  State  Legislature  passed  a  resolution  calling  convention  for  con- 
sideration of  United  States  Constitution — January  27.  "Doctor's  Mob" 
in  New  York  —  April  13.  Constitutional  Convention  organized  at  Pough- 
keepsie  —  June  17.  Constitution  adopted  by  a  majority  of  three  with  recom- 
mendation of  amendments  —  July  26.  Constitution  officially  proclaimed  — 
September  13.  Special  session  of  Legislature  to  send  delegates  to  Conti- 
nental Congress  —  December  8.  Representatives  elected  to  United  States 
Congress.  Recommendation  to  Congress  to  call  convention  to  amend 
Constitution.     Canandaigua  and  Elmira  settled. 

1789.  First  Federal  Congress  under  the  National  Constitution  assembled 
at  New  York  —  March  4.  Washington  and  Adams  president  and  vice- 
president —  April  6.  President  Washington  arrived  in  New  York — April 
24.  Inaugurated  as  president  —  April  30.  George  Clinton  re-elected  gov- 
ernor—  April.  Legislature  convened  in  special  session — July  6.  Schuyler 
and  King  elected  senators  —  July  19.     Ithaca  settled. 

1790.  Congress  removed  from  New  York  to  Philadelphia  —  August  12. 
President  Washington  left  New  York  —  August  30.  Large  Federal  majority 
at  State  election.  Census  showed  an  increase  of  eighty-five  thousand  during 
past  five  years.  Election  of  Aaron  Burr  as  senator.  Rochester  and 
Buffalo  settled. 

1791.  Reappointment  of  representa-tive  and  senatorial  districts.  Assem 
bly  increased  to  seventy-three  and  senate  to  twenty-four  members.  Act 
passed  to  sell  State  lands. 

1792.  Act  passed  incorporating  Western  and  Northern  Inland  Lake 
Navigation  Companies  —  January.     Re-election    of  Governor   Clinton  and 


294  ERA    OF  FORMATION. 


Lieutenant-Governor   Van  Cortland  —  April.      Re-election  of  Washington 
and  Adams —  November. 

1793.  The  French  Revolution.  Naval  battle  off  Sandy  Hook  between 
French  and  English  frigates  —  August  3.  Citizen  Genet  arrived  in  New 
York  as  representative  of  the  French  Republic — August  7. 

1795.  Act  passed  appropriating  fifty  thousand  dollars  annually  for  five 
years  to  common  schools  —  January.  Rufus  King  re-elected  United  States 
senator  —  January  27.  Jay  and  Van  Renssalaer  elected  governor  and  lieu- 
tenant-governor. 

1796.  Trial  of  John  Fitch's  steamboat  at  New  York.  Canal  completed 
at  Little  Falls.  John  Lawrence  elected  U.  S.  senator  —  November.  Ogdens- 
burg  settled. 

1797.  Act  passed  creating  office  of  comptroller  —  January.  Philip 
Schuyler  chosen  U.  S.  senator.  Location  of  the  capital  at  Albany.  Election 
of  Adams  as  President. 

1798.  Re-election  of  Jay  and  Van  Renssalaer.  Clinton  and  Spencer 
elected  U.  S.  senators.  Act  passed  incorporating  a  company  for  construe 
tion  of  canal  from  Lakes  Erie  to  Ontario. 

1799.  Act  supplying  city  of  New  York  with  pure  water  passed.  Partial 
abolition  of  slavery  in  the  State  —  April. 

1800.  Governor  Morris  chosen  U.  S.  senator.  John  Armstrong  elected 
U.  S.  senator — November.     Watertown  settled. 

1801.  Orgnization  of  the  common  school  system.  Recommendation 
of  a  convention  to  amend  State  Constitution.  Contest  between  Jefferson 
and  Burr  —  February.  Jefferson  elected  president  and  Purr  vice-president. 
George  Clinton  and  Van  Renssalaer  elected  governor  and  lieutenant-gov. 
ernor.     State    Constitutional    Convention    meets  —  October   13. 

1802.  Ambrose  Spencer  appointed  Attorney  General — January.  Pro- 
posed amendment  to  National  Constitution.  De  Witt  Clinton  elected 
senator—  February  9.     Controversy  between  Clinton  and  Burr. 

1804.  Ammendment  of  the  United  States  Constitution  in  reference  to 
presidential  electors  — January.  Lewis  and  Broome  elected  governor  and 
lieutenant-governor  — April.  Hostility  between  Burr  and  Hamilton  — 
February.  Duel  between  Burr  and  Hamilton  and  death  of  Hamilton  — 
July  11.  Mitchell  elected  U.  S.  senator.  Re-election  of  President  Jeffer- 
son.    Governor  George  Clinton  elected  vice-president  —  December. 

1805.  Act  appropriating  proceeds  of  one  half  million  acres  of  public 
lands  to  common  schools  —  January.  Free  School  Society  of  the  city  of 
New  York  incorporated.  Mclntyre  appointed  comptroller.  Election  of 
Tompkins  as  governor.     Lockport  settled. 

1807.  Robert  Fulton's  steamboat  Clermont  launched  at  Brown's  shipyard 
on  the  Fast  River — August  7.  Congress  laid  an  embargo  on  all  vessels  in 
harbors  of  United  States  —  September  23.  Opposition  to  this  measure  by 
Federalists. 

1808.  Favorable  report  of  proposed  canal  from  Lake  Erie  to  Hudson. 
Election  of  Madison  and  George  Clinton  as  president  and  vice-president. 


ERA    OF  FORMATION.  295 


1809.  Obadiah  German  elected  U.  S.  senator.  Negotiations  for  repeal 
of  English  and  French  decrees.  Refusal  of  English  government  to  repeal 
orders  in  council — June. 

1810.  Board  of  Commissioners  appointed  to  make  survey  route  for  Erie 
and  Champlain  Canal.  Re-election  of  Tompkins  and  Broome —April. 
Preparations  for  war  with  England. 

1811.  Appointment  of  Commissioners  for  establishment  of  common 
schools.     Bill  passed  for  the  construction  of  the  canal  —  April  8. 

1812.  Bill  passed  for  the  organization  of  the  common  school  system. 
Bill  introduced  chartering  Bank  of  America.  Legislature  adjourned  by 
the  governor— March  27.  Death  of  Vice-President  Clinton  —  April  20. 
Bill  passed  chartering  Bank  of  America—  May  21.  War  declared  against 
Great  Britain  —  June  20.  Organization  of  West  Point  Military  Academy. 
Many  privateers  sent  out  from  New  York.  General  Hull's  surrender  of 
Detroit  — August  16.  Capture  of  Guerrierre  and  Macedonian  and  Frolic. 
Gunboat  Oneida  repulsed  five  British  vessels  off  Sackett's  Harbor  — July  19. 
Commodore  Chauncey  drove  the  British  fleet  into  Kingston  Harbor — Novem- 
ber 9.  Elliott  captured  two  British  vessels  at  Fort  Erie  —  October  9.  Van 
Renssalaer  captured  British  works  at  Queenstown  —  October  12.  Battle  of 
Queenstown  Heights  — October  13.  Re-election  of  Madison,  and  Gerry  as 
president  and  vice-president— November.  Perry  aasumes  command  on 
Lake  Erie. 

1813.  Rufus  King  elected  U.  S.  senator  —  January.  Re-election  of 
Governor  Tompkins;  triumph  of  Democrats.  Capture  of  the  Peacock  — 
February.  Expedition  to  Elizabethtown,  Canada— February  7.  British 
capture  Ogdensburg  —  February  22.  Americans  capture  York  — April  27. 
Capture  of  Fort  George  —  May  27.  British  defeat  at  Sackett's  Harbor  — 
May  29.  Attack  upon  Black  Rock  —  July  11.  Burning  of  Plattsburg  — 
July  31.  Capture  of  the  Argus  by  the  Pelican — August  14.  Capture  of 
the  Boxer  by  the  Enterprise  —  September  5.  Perry's  victory  on  Lake  Erie 
—  September  10.  Battle  of  the  Thames  —  October  5.  Unsuccessful  expe- 
dition against  Canada  —  November.  Action  at  Chaeateaugay.  Evacuation 
of  Fort  George.  Americans  burn  Newark  and  Queenstown.  Retalitory 
descent  by  British  upon  Forts  Niagara,  Lewiston,  Youngstown,  etc.  — 
December.     Buffalo  and  Black   Rock  captured  and  burned  —  December  26. 

1814.  Appropriations  to  Colleges.  Unsuccessful  attack  upon  Rouse's 
Point  —  March.  Repulse  of  British  at  Oswego—  May  5.  Action  at  Sandy 
Creek.  Capture  of  Fort  Erie  —  July  3.  Battle  of  Chippewa  —  July  5. 
Battle  of  Lundy's  Lane  —  July  215.  Siege  of  Fort  Erie  —  August  7.  Brit- 
ish invade  Northern  New  York.  Preparations  for  defence  of  city  of  New 
York  and  the  Northern  frontier  —  August.  Indorsement  of  the  credit  of  the 
government  by  Governor  Tompkins.  Attack  upon  Plattsburg.  Battle  of 
Lake  Champlain — September  n.  British  retreat  into  Canada.  Special 
session  of  Legislature  to  take  measures  for  defence — September  26.  Voted 
to  increase  pay  of  militia  and  raise  additional  troops. 

1815.  Sanford   elected   U.    S.  senator  —  January.      News  of   Treaty  of 


296  ERA   OF  PROGRESS. 


Peace  received  —  February  11.     Canal  meetings  in  New  York  and  Albany 
—  December. 

1816.  Twenty  thousand  dollars  appropriated  for  canal  —  April  17. 
Governor  Tompkins  re-elected  —  April.  Election  of  Monroe  and  Tompkins 
as  president  and  vice-president  —  November. 

1817.  Total  abolition  of  slavery  after  July  4,  1827,  decreed  —  January  18. 
Election  of  Governor  DeVYitt  Clinton  and  Lieutenant-Governor  Tayler. 
Act  passed  for  construction  of  canal — April  17.  Commencement  of  the 
work  —  July  4.     Formation  of  the  Bucktail  and  Clintonian  parties. 

i8ig.  Amendment  of  the  Canal  Law  —  January.  Revision  of  the  school 
law.     First  boat  on  Erie  Canal  —  October  22. 

1820.  King  elected  U.  S.  senator  —  January.  Clinton  and  Tayler  re- 
elected. Federal  interference  in  State  election.  Re-election  of  Monroe  and 
Tompkins  as  president  and  vice-president  —  November.  Controversy  be- 
tween Governor  Clinton  and  the  State  senate. 

1821.  Martin  Van  Buren  elected  U.  S.  senator  —  January.  Bill  to  call 
convention  to  amend  Constitution.  Election  of  delegates  to  convention  — 
June.  Meeting  of  convention  in  Albany  —  August  28.  Extension  of  right 
of  suffrage  to  every  male  citizen  over  twenty-one  years  old,  except  colored 
people.  Judicial  system  remodeled.  Legislative  and  executive  departments 
reformed.  Adjournment  of  convention  —  November  10.  Governor  DeWitt 
Clinton  refuses  re-election. 

1822.  Ratification  of  Constitution  by  the  people  —  February.  Yates 
and  Root  elected  governor  and  lieutenant-governor  —  November.  Abolition 
of  lotteries. 

1823.  Appointment  of  chancellor.  Judges  of  Supreme  Court  and  Circuit 
Judges  —  January.  Democrats  divided  on  question  of  choice  of  presiden- 
tial electors.     Champlain  Canal  completed  —  September  10. 

1824.  Defeat  of  the  electoral  law.  Removal  of  DeWitt  Clinton  from 
office  of  Canal  Commissioner  —  April  12.  Popular  indignation.  Extra 
session  of  the  Legislature— August  2.  Resolution  in  favor  of  Electoral 
law.  DeWitt  Clinton  and  Tallmadge  elected  governor  and  lieutenant-gov- 
ernor—November.  Legislature  votes  in  favor  of  Adams  for  president  — 
November.     Visit  of  Lafayette—  August  15. 

1825.  Adams  and  Calhoun  elected  president  and  vice-president.  Act 
appointing  commissoners  for  survey  of  State  Road.  Rufus  King  appointed 
Minister  to  England.  Completion  of  Erie  and  Champlain  Canal  — Octo- 
ber 26.     Celebration  of  the  event  —  November  4. 

THE    ERA    OF    PROGRESS. 

1826.  Nathan  Sanford  elected  U.  S.  senator.  Resolution  amending  the 
constitution,  extending  suffrage  and  providing  election  of  Justices  of  Peace 
passed.  Abduction  of  William  Morgan  by  Free  Masons — September  29. 
Clinton  re-elected  —  November. 

1827.  Organization  of  the  Anti-Masonic  Party. 


ERA    OF  PROGRESS.  297 


1828.  Death  of  Governor  DeWitt  Clinton — February  11.  Act  passed 
for  organization  of  Court  of  Common  Pleas  in  New  York  City.  Martin 
Van  Buren  and  Throop  elected  governor  and  lieutenant-governor — Novem- 
ber. Completion  of  Delaware  and  Hudson  Canal  —  October.  Jackson  and 
Calhoun  elected  president  and  vice-president.  Progress  of  the  Anti-Masonic 
excitement. 

1829.  Bill  for  the  establishment  of  safety  fund  banking  system.  Charles 
E.  Dudley  appointed  U.  S.  senator.  Presidential  electors  to  be  chosen  by 
general  ticket.     Governor  Van  Buren  resigns  to  become   Secretary  of  State 

—  March  12.     Passage  of  the  Chenango  and  Chemung  Canal  Bills.     Death 
of  John  Jay  —  May  17. 

1830.  Throop  and  Livingston  elected  governor  and  lieutenant-governor. 

1831.  William  L.  Marcy  appointed  U.S.  senator  —  February  1.  Van 
Buren  appointed  Minister  to  England.  Railroad  opened  between  Albany 
and  Schenectady.     Death  of  vice-president  Monroe  in  New  York  —  July  4. 

1832.  Election  of  Marcy  and  Tracy  as  governor  and  lieutenant-governor. 
Jackson  and  Van  Buren  elected  president  and  vice-president. 

1833.  Silas  Wright  Jr.  chosen  U.  S.  senator  in  place  of  Governor  Marcy. 
Completion  of  the  Chemung  Canal.     N.  P.  Tallmadge  elected  U.  S.  senator 

—  February  2.     Act  for  the  construction  of  the  Chenango  Canal. 

1834.  Whig  party  formed.     Marcy  and  Tracy  again  elected. 

1835.  Loan  of  five  millions  by  the  State  to  banks.  Establishment  of  aca- 
demical departments  for  the  education  of  teachers — January  8.  Act  to 
purchase  libraries  in  the  school  districts  of  the  States  —  April  13.  Con- 
struction of  the  Croton  Aqueduct  and  High  Bridge.  Great  fire  in  New 
York  City  —  December  16. 

1836.  Bills  passed  for  construction  of  Black  River  and  Genesee  Canals. 
Proceedings  against  Senators  Kemble  and  Bishop  for  bribery.  Re-election 
of  Marcy  and  Tracy. 

1837.  Van  Buren  and  Johnson  elected  president  and  vice-president. 
Silas  Wright  re-elected  U.  S.  senator.  Completion  of  the  Chenango  Canal. 
Suspension  of  specie  payments  by  banks  of  New  York  City.  Financial 
panic.  Bill  passed  suspending  the  provisions  of  the  safety  fund  act.  Cana- 
dian Insurrection.  Burning  of  the  Caroline  on  Navy  Island.  Proclamations 
of  neutrality  by  United  States. 

1838.  Suspension  of  the  act  prohibiting  issue  of  small  bills.  General 
banking  law  passed. 

1839.  Appropriation  of  United  States  deposit  fund  for  purposes  of  edu- 
cation. Seward  and  Bradish  elected  governor  and  lieutenant-governor  — 
November  2.  Act  repealing  law  prohibiting  issue  and  circulation  of  small 
bills.     The  "  Helderberg  war  "  (anti-rent)  —  December. 

1840.  Governor  Seward  refuses  to  surrender  colored  fugitives  charged 
with  stealing  slaves.  N.  P.  Tallmadge  re-elected  U.  S.  senator.  Act  abolish- 
ing imprisonment  for  debt.  Act  approving  refusal  of  Governor  to  sur- 
render fugitives  —  May  14.  Seward  and  Bradish  re-elected  —  November  3. 
Harrison  and  Tyler  elected  president  and  vice-president.     Governor  of  Vir- 


298  ERA    OF  PROGRESS. 


ginia  refused   to  surrender  forger  from  New  York  till   New  York  returned 
colored  fugitives. 

1841.  Act  amending  common  school  law  —  May  26.  Arrest  of  Alexander 
McLeod  for  burning  of  the  Caroline — January.  Demand  of  the  British 
Government  for  his  release.  New  York  and  Erie  Railroad  opened  — 
September  22.  Supreme  Court  decides  to  refuse  demands  of  the  British 
Government. 

1842.  Trial  and  acquittal  of  McLeod  —  March  29.  Act  imposing  State 
tax  ("  stop  and  tax  law  ").  Legislature  declared  that  stealing  a  slave  in  Vir- 
ginia and  contrary  to  its  laws  was  a  crime  under  the  Constitution  —  April 
11.  Governor  Seward  declined  to  transmit  resolution  —  April  12.  Act  to 
establish  school  commissioners  in  New  York  City  —  August.  Bouck  and 
Dickinson  elected  governor  and  lieutenant-governor  —  November. 

1843.  Silas  Wright  re-elected  U.  S.  senator  —  February  7. 

1844.  Act  passed  to  enlarge  Erie  Canal.  Proposed  amendments  of  the 
constitution.  Anti-rent  disturbance.  Formation  of  native  American  party 
to  exclude  foreigners  from  offices.  Wright  and  Gardiner  elected  governor  and 
lieutenant-governor — November.  Polk  and  Dallas  elected  president  and 
vice-president.  Foster  and  Dickinson  appointed  U.  S.  senators  by  governor 
in  place  of  Wright  and  Tallmadge  —  December.  Proposal  for  the  amendment 
of  the  Constitution  ratified  by  people.    Continuance  of  anti-rent  disturbances. 

1845.  Jonn  A-  r)ix  chosen  U.  S.  senator — February  25.  Governor 
Marcy  appointed  secretary  of  war.  Bill  passed  providing  for  call  of  State 
Convention  for  formation  of  new  constitution  —  March  13.  Anti-rent  out- 
break in  Columbia,  Delaware  and  Schoharie  Counties.  Imprisonment  of 
Dr.  Boughton,  one  of  the  leaders.  Murder  of  Deputy  Sheriff  Steele. 
Proclamation  of  martial  law.  Trial  and  conviction  of  anti-rent  rioters. 
Great  fire  in  New  York  —  July  19.  Call  for  State  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion approved  by  people — November. 

1846.  Declaration  of  war  against  Mexico  —  May  13.  State  Constitutional 
Convention  met  —  June  1.  Changes  in  election  of  senators  and  members 
of  the  lower  house.  Power  of  impeachment  vested  in  the  assembly.  Organ- 
ization of  the  Court  of  Appeals.  Removal  of  justices  of  the  Supreme 
Court.  Election  of  county  judges  and  justices  of  the  peace.  Tribunals  of 
conciliation  authorized.  Revision  of  practice  and  pleading  made.  Elec- 
tion of  county  and  State  officers.  Provision  for  payment  of  canal  debt. 
Restrictions  on  the  contraction  of  State  debts.  Restrictions  on  banking 
associations.  Common  school, literature,  and  deposit  funds.  Incorporation 
of  cities  and  villages.  Provision  for  future  amendments  to  constitution. 
Establishment  of  free  schools.  Election  of  Young  and  Gardiner  as  gov- 
ernor and  lieutenant-governor  —  November.  Adoption  of  new  constitution 
by  people. 

1847.  Pardon  of  the  anti-rent  convicts.  Act  establishing  free  academy 
in  New  York  City.  Termination  of  Mexican  war.  Death  of  Governor 
Wright  —  August  27. 

1848.  Appropriations    made   for   canals.     Fish   and    Patterson    elected 


ERA   OF  PROGRESS.  299 


governor  and  lieutenant-governor  —  November.  Taylor  and  Fillmore  elected 
president  and  vice-president.     New  York  and  New  Haven  Railroad  opened 

—  December  28. 

1849.  Act  appointing  a  board  of  commissioners  for  establishment  of 
agricultural  college.  Resolutions  condemning  extension  of  slavery  over 
free  regions.  Act  establishing  free  schools  throughout  the  State  —  March 
16.  William  H.  Seward  elected  U.  S.  senator  —  February.  Act  to  establish 
free  schools  approved  by  people  —  November. 

1850.  Act  passed  referring  repeal  of  free  school  law  to  people.  Act 
establishing  asylum  at  Syracuse  for   idiots.     Death   of   President   Taylor 

—  July  9.  Passage  of  Clay's  compromise  bill  —  July.  State  Convention  to 
oppose  unconditional  repeal  of  free  school  law  at  Syracuse.  People  vote 
against  repeal  of  law.  Hunt  and  Church  elected  governor  and  lieutenant- 
governor  —  November. 

1851.  Modification  of  the  free  school  law — April  12.  Ex-Governor 
Fish  appointed  U.  S.  senator  —  February. 

1852.  Seymour  and  Church  elected  governor  and  lieutenant-governor  — 
November. 

1853.  Act  passed  establishing  State  agricultural  and  scientific  college. 
Laws  passed  regulating  railroad  companies.  Special  session  of  the  Legis- 
lature convened.  Act  to  amend  the  Constitution  declared  unconstitutional 
by  attorney-general.  Ex-Governor  Marcy  appointed  Secretary  of  State  — 
March.     Act  passed  revising  school  law  —  June  4. 

1854.  Constitutional  amendment  ratified  by  people  at  a  special  election 
giving  an  unusual  appropriation  for  enlargement  and  completion  of  canals. 
Clark  and  Raymond  elected  governor  and  lieutenant-governor  —  November. 

1855.  Act  passed  for  suppression  of  intemperance,  prohibiting  granting 
of  licenses  for  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors.  Seward  re-elected  U.  S.  senator. 
Act  passed  making  cities  and  counties  liable  for  property  destroyed  by  mobs. 
Resolutions  adopted  adverse  to  slavery. 

1856.  State  tax  for  support  of  schools  amended.  King  and  Selden 
elected  governor  and  lieutenant-governor  —  November.  Buchanan  and 
Breckenridge  elected  president  and  vice-president. 

1857.  Preston  King  elected  U.  S.  senator — February.  Act  passed  for  the 
suppression  of  intemperance.  Tax  imposed  for  speedy  completion  of  public 
works.  Resolution  adopted  that  slavery  shall  not  be  allowed  in  State  for 
any  time,  and  that  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  by  its  decision  in  Dred 
Scott  case  had  forfeited  respect  of  country.  Death  of  Ex-Governor  Marcy. 
Financial  panic. 

1858.  Morgan  and  Campbell  elected  governor  and  lieutenant-governor. 
John  Brown's  invasion  of  Virginia. 

1859.  Rejection  of  negro  suffrage  by  people. 

i860.  Act  providing  extension  of  rights  of  married  women  passed.  Pro- 
vision made  for  the  prosecution  of  the  public  works.  Lincoln  and  Hamlin 
elected  president  and  vice-president.  Morgan  and  Campbell  elected  gov- 
ernor and  lieutenant-governor.     Kansas  and  Nebraska  struggle.     Attempts 


3~oo  ERA    OF  PROGRESS. 


at  compromise  by  Southern  senators.  Secession  of  the  Southern  States  — 
December. 

1861.  Resolutions  adopted  announcing  determination  to  sustain  the 
war  and  tendering  president  any  aid  he  wished  —  January  7.  Peace  Con- 
gress assembled  at  Washington — March  1.  Ira  Harris  elected  U.  S. 
senator  in  place  of  William  H.  Seward  appointed  Secretary  of  State. 
Petition  of  merchants  for  compromise  forwarded  to  Congress.  Bombard- 
ment of  Fort  Sumter  —  April  12  and  13.  Lincoln  called  for  seventy-five 
thousand  men  —  April  15.  Legislature  authorized  the  enrollment  of  thirty 
thousand  men  and  appropriated  three  million  dollars.  Troops  organized  into 
thirty-eight  regiments  —  July  12.    Large  public  meeting  held  at  Union  Square 

—  April  18.  Advance  of  funds  by  New  York  merchants.  State  loan  of 
two  hundred  million  dollars  to  United  States.  Twenty-five  thousand  troops 
called  for  by  Governor  Morgan. 

1862.  One  hundred  and  twenty  regiments  sent  into  the  field  by  State. 
Three  and  a  half  million  dollars  paid  for  bounties.  Completion  of  the  Erie 
Canal  enlargement.  Seymour  and  Jones  elected  governor  and  lieutenant- 
governor.  Death  of  ex-president  Van  Buren  at  Lindonwold  near  Kinden- 
hook. 

1863.  E.  D.  Morgan  elected  U.  S.  senator — February.  Governor  Sey- 
mour's Fourth  of  July  addre'ss.     A  draft  riot  broke  out  in  New  York  City 

—  July  13.  Interposition  of  Governor  Seymour  ineffectual.  Suppression 
of  riots  by  United  States  troops  —  July  16.  Large  amount  of  property  de- 
stroyed and  many  lives  lost.  Riotous  opposition  to  draft  in  Brooklyn,  Troy 
and  Jamaica.  Enforcement  of  draft  by  aid  of  United  States  troops. 
Thirty  thousand  additional  troops  drafted.  Surrender  of  Vicksburg  and 
Port  Hudson.     Victories  of  Chattanooga,  Chickamauga  and  Lookout  Mt. 

1864.  State  tax  imposed.  Lincoln  and  Johnson  elected  president  and 
vice-president.  Fenton  and  Alvord  elected  governor  and  lieutenant-governor. 
Conspiracy  to  burn  New  York  City  —  November  25.  Robert  Kennedy,  a 
conspirator,  executed. 

1865.  Surrender  of  Lee  —  April  9.  Assassination  of  Lincoln  —  April  14. 
Succession  of  President  Johnson. 

1866.  Election  of  Fenton  and  Woodford.  — November. 

1867.  Act  passed  to  enlarge  locks  on  Erie  and  Oswego  Canals.  Bill 
passed  calling  Constitutional  Convention.  Roscoe  Conkling  appointed  U.  S. 
senator  in  place  of  Harris.  Act  passed  increasing  State  tax  and  declaring 
all  schools  free.  Constitutional  Convention  assembled  —  June  4.  Anti- 
rent  disturbances  break  out  — July. 

1868.  Constitutional  Assembly  reconvened — January.  Cornell  Univer- 
sity opened  in  Ithaca.  Hoffman  and  Beach  elected  governor  and  lieutenant- 
governor —  November.  Grant  and  Colfax  elected  president  and  vice- 
president. 

1869.  Fenton  chosen  U.  S.  senator  in  place  of  Morgan  —  February. 
Legislature  assented  to  the  Fifteenth  Amendment  to  the  National  Constitu- 
tion prohibiting  all  discrimination   in  franchise  on   account  of  color.     The 


ERA    OF  PROGRESS.  301 


Board  of   School  Commissioners  enlarged  to  twelve  members  elected  by 
the  people. 

1870.  Construction  of  Brooklyn  Bridge  began  —  January  2.  New  Legis" 
lature  withdrew  the  consent  of  the  State  to  the  Fifteenth  Constitutional 
Amendment.      Hoffman  elected  governor. 

1871.  Exposure  of  the  Tweed  frauds.  Indignation  meeting  condemning 
Tweed  frauds.  Impeachment  of  Barnard,  Cardozo  and  McCunn,  Judges  of 
Superior  Court.  Committee  of  seventy  appointed  to  investigate  Tweed 
ring.  Corner-stone  of  State  Capitol,  at  Albany,  laid  —  June  24.  Orange 
Riot  in  New  York  —  July  12. 

1872.  Tweed  arrested.  Horace  Greeley  nominated  for  president.  Grant 
re-elected.  General  Dix  elected  governor.  Legislative  dissent  to  Fifteenth 
Amendment  withdrawn. 

1873.  Financial  panic.     Trial  and  conviction  of  Tweed. 

1874.  S.  J.  Tilden  elected  governor.  Investigation  of  the  Canal  Ring. 
Death  of  ex-President  Fillmore  at  Buffalo  —  March  8. 

1875.  Re-arrest  and  conviction  of  Tweed. 

1876.  Tilden  nominated  for  president  by  Democrats.  Hayes  elected 
president  and  W.  A.  Wheeler  of  New  York  vice-president.  W.  M.  Evarts 
of  New  York  appointed  Secretary  of  State.  Robinson  elected  governor  to 
serve  for  three  years.     Brooklyn  Theatre  fire  —  December  6. 

1879.  Cornell  elected  governor.  New  capitol  at  Albany  opened  —  Feb- 
ruary 12. 

1880.  Egyptian  obelisk  erected  on  Graywacke  Knoll  in  Central  Park, 
New  York  City  —  January  22.  Garfield  and  Arthur  elected  president  and 
vice-president. 

1881.  Nomination  of  Robertson  as  collector  of  New  York  City.  Resig- 
nation of  Piatt  and  Conkling  —  May  14.  Assassination  of  Garfield — July. 
Arthur  president.  Consolidation  of  Elevated  Railroads  in  New  York  City. 
Warner  Miller  and  Elbridge  G.  Lapham  chosen  U.  S.  senators  —  July  17. 

1882.  Charles  J.  Folger  chosen  secretary  of  treasury.  Cleveland 
elected  governor  and  Hill  lieutenant-governor. 

1883.  Brooklyn  Bridge  opened  to  the  public  —  May  24.  One  hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  disbanding  of  the  American  Army  of  the  Revolution 
celebrated  at  Newburg  —  October  18.  Centennial  celebration  of  the  British 
Evacuation  of  New  York  —  November  25.  New  railroad  bridge  across 
Niagara  River  opened  —  December  20. 

1884.  Grover  Cleveland  elected  president.  W.  M.  Evarts  chosen  U.  S. 
senator  —  January  21. 

1885.  Niagara  Falls  reservation  made  into  a  State  Park  —  July  16. 
Adirondack  forests  protected.  New  Croton  Aqueduct  commenced.  Death 
of  ex-President  Grant  at  Mt.  McGregor,  near  Saratoga  —  July  23.  Hill  and 
Jones  elected  governor  and  lieutenant-governor  —  November  3. 

1886.  Twelve  hours  made  a  day's  labor.  Women  admitted  to  legal 
practice.  Grant  Monument  Association  incorporated.  Soldiers'  monu- 
ment at  Albany  authorized.     Bi-centennial  celebration  at  Albany  —  July  22. 


302  ERA    OF  PROGRESS. 


Statue  of  Liberty  in  New  York  harbor  unveiled  —  October  28.  Exposure 
of  the  corruptionists  in  New  York  City  government,  known  as  the  "Boodle 
aldermen."   Death  of  ex-President  Arthur  in  New  York  City  —  November  18. 

1887.  Frank  Hiscock  chosen  U.  S.  senator — January  20.  Trial  of 
"Boodle  aldermen."     Centenary  of  Columbia  College  —  April  13. 

1888.  Great  storm  throughout  the  State  —  March  12. 

New  York  has  contributed  to  the  direction  and  development  of  the 
United  States  of  America  four  presidents,  namely :  Martin  Van  Buren  of 
Kinderhook  (1837),  Millard  Fillmore  of  Buffalo  (1850),  Chester  Alan 
Arthur  of  New  York  City  (1881)  and  Grover  Cleveland  of  Buffalo  (1885); 
seven  vice-presidents,  namely :  Aaron  Burr  (1 801),  George  Clinton  (1805), 
Daniel  D.  Tompkins  (1817)  ;  Martin  Van  Buren  (1833),  Millard  Fillmore 
(1849),  William  A.  Wheeler  (1877)  and  Chester  A.  Arthur  (1881) ;  one  speaker 
of  the  House  of  Representatives;  John  W.  Taylor  (1820,  1825) ;  one  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  John  Jay  (1789)  and  five  associate  justices, 
namely:  Brockholst  Livingstone;  (1806),  Smith  Thompson  (1823),  Samuel 
Nelson   (1845),  Ward  Hunt  (1872)  and  Samuel  Blatchford  (1882). 


THE    PEOPLES'    COVENANT 

AS    EMBODIED    IN  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF   THE  STATE  OF 
NEW    YORK. 

The  Constitution  of  the  State  of  New  York  adopted  April  20,  1777, 
amended  1801,  adopted  as  revised  February,  1821,  again  adopted  as  still 
further  revised  and  amended  November  3,  1846,  and  amended  January  I, 
1877,  consists  of  sixteen  articles,  subdivided  into  the  necessary  sections. 
The  Preamble  reads  : 

We  the  People  of  the  State  of  New  York,  grateful  to  Almighty  God  for 
our  Freedom,  in  order  to  secure  its  blessings,  Do  establish  this  Consti- 
tution. 

The  fifteen  articles,  here  condensed  to  the  briefest  possible  limits,  set 
forth  in  detail  the  obligations,  duties  and  desires  of  the  people  through 
their  constituted  officials  and  representatives  as  follows : 

Article  i  deals  with  citizenship  and  property,  and  embraces  eighteen 
sections,  covering  the  following  declarations  :  1  —  No  person  shall  be  dis- 
franchised except  by  the  law  of  the  land  or  the  judgment  of  his  peers; 
2  —  Trial  by  jury  shall  remain  inviolate  forever;  3 —  The  free  exercise  and 
enjoyment  of  religious  profession  and  worship  shall  forever  be  allowed  in 
this  State  to  all  mankind;  4  — The  privileges  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus 
shall  not  be  suspended  except  in  cases  of  rebellion  and  invasion  ;  5  —  Exces- 
sive bails  or  fines  shall  not  be  imposed;  6  — No  person  shall  be  subject  to 
be  twice  put  in  jeopardy  for  the  same  offence;  nor  shall  he  be  compelled  to 
be  a  witness  against  himself;  nor  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty  or  property 
without  due  process  of  law  ;  nor  shall  private  property  be  taken  for  public 
use,  without  just  compensation;  7  — The  compensation  due  when  private 
property  is  taken  for  public  use  shall  be  determined  by  a  jury  of  commis- 
sioners duly  appointed  by  law;  8  — No  law  shall  be  passed  to  restrain  or 
abridge  the  liberty  of  speech  or  of  the  press;  9— A  two  thirds  vote  of  the 
Legislature  shall  be  requisite  to  every  bill  appropriating  the  public  money 
or  property  for  local  or  private  purposes;  10— No  law  shall  abridge  the 
right  of  the  people  peaceably  to  assemble  and  to  petition  the  government; 
no  divorces  shall  be  granted  save  by  judicial  proceedings ;  no  lottery  or  sale 
of  lottery  tickets  shall  be  allowed  within  this  State;  n— The  people  as 
sovereigns  possess  the  original  and  ultimate  property  in  all  lands  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  State;  12  — All  feudal  tenures  of  every  description  are 
abolished;  13  — The  entire  and  absolute  property  in  land  is  " allodial "  — 
that  is,  not  held  by  others,  but  vested  in  the  owners  themselves;  14  —  No 
leases  or  grants  of   agricultural  land  allowed  for  more  than  twelve  years; 

3°3 


304  THE    CONSTITUTION. 


15  —  No  fines,  quarter  sales  or  restraints  on  any  grant  of  land  are  legal; 
16 — Purchase  of  lands  from  Indians  are  not  valid;  17  —  Colonial  laws  not 
a  part  of  the  State  law,  and  all  parts  of  the  common  law  repugnant  to  this 
Constitution  are  hereby  abrogated ;  18 — Grants  of  land  made  by  English 
authorities  after  1775  are  nu^  anc^  v°id- 

Article  ii  applies  to  voters  and  elections  and  embraces  five  sections. 
1  —  Every  male  citizen  of  the  age  of  twenty-one  who  shall  have  been  a  citi- 
zen for  ten  days  and  an  inhabitant  of  this  State  one  year  next  preceding  an 
election,  and  for  the  last  four  months  a  resident  of  the  county,  and  for  the 
last  thirty  days  a  resident  of  the  election  district  in  which  he  may  offer  his 
vote  shall  be  entitled  to  vote  at  such  election  in  the  election  district  of  which 
he  shall  at  the  time  be  a  resident;  no  elector  shall  be  deprived  of  his  vote 
in  time  of  war  by  reason  of  his  absence  from  his  election  district ;  the  Leg- 
islature shall  provide  the  manner  in  which  such  absent  elector  may  vote ; 
2 —  Bribery,  betting  on  the  results  of  an  election  and  any  infamous  crime 
shall  exclude  electors  from  exercising  the  right  of  suffrage;  3 — Employ- 
ment in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  attendance  at  any  seminary  of 
learning,  temporary  confinement  in  any  almshouse,  asylum  or  public  prison 
shall  not  affect  the  residence  of  voters ;  4  —  Laws  shall  be  made  for  ascer- 
taining by  proper  proofs  who  shall  be  entitled  to  the  right  of  suffrage  ;  5  — 
All  elections  shall  be  by  ballot. 

Article  rn  regulates  the  legislative  power  of  the  State,  vested  in  a  senate 
and  assembly.  It  comprises  twenty-five  sections  and  declares  that  the  senate 
shall  consist  of  thirty-two  members  each  chosen  for  two  years,  and  the 
assembly  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  members  elected  annually;  it 
divides  the  State  into  thirty-two  senatorial  districts,  provides  for  a  census 
every  ten  years  on  and  after  the  year  1855;  apportions  the  members  of 
assembly  among  the  several  counties  of  the  State  according  to  the  number 
of  inhabitants ;  provides  for  the  pay  of  members  at  the  rate  of  fifteen  hun- 
dred dollars  per  annum ;  prohibits  members  from  receiving  other  appoint- 
ments while  in  office ;  disqualifies  actual  office  holders  from  becoming 
members  of  the  legislature ;  fixes  the  time  of  elections  to  the  Legislature 
as  the  Tuesday  succeeding  the  first  Monday  of  November;  defines  the 
powers  of  each  House  and  the  manner  of  conducting  the  public  business 
and  specifies  what  class  of  bills,  laws  and  claims  shall  be  passed  upon  by 
the  Legislature. 

Article  iv  treats  of  the  Executive  and  comprises  nine  sections.  1  — 
The  Executive  power  shall  be  vested  in  a  Governor  and  a  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernor each  of  whom  shall  hold  office  for  three  years;  2— No  person  shall 
be  eligible  to  either  office  except  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  of  not 
less  than  thirty  years  of  age  and  a  citizen  of  the  State  for  five  years; 
3  —  Elections  for  Governor  and  Lieutenant-Governor  shall  be  at  the  same 
times  and  places  as  elections  for  members  of  the  assembly;  the  persons 
receiving  the  highest  number  of  votes  shall  be  deemed  elected;  in  case 
of  a  "tie  "the  election  shall  be  by  joint  ballot  of  the  two  Houses  of  the 
Legislature;   4  —  The  Governor  shall    be    the    commander-in-chief   of   the 


THE    CONSTITUTION.  305 


military  and  naval  forces  of  the  State;  he  shall  have  power  to  convene  ex- 
traordinary sessions  of  the  Legislature  and  such  sessions  shall  only  act 
upon  subjects  recommended  by  the  Governor;  he  shall  send  a  message  to 
each  session  of  the  Legislature  communicating  the  condition  of  the  State 
and  recommending  such  matters  as  he  shall  judge  expedient;  he  shall  tran- 
sact all  necessary  official  business,  expedite  all  such  measures  as  the  Legis- 
lature may  resolve  upon  and  take  care  that  the  laws  are  faithfully  executed ; 
he  shall  receive  an  annual  salary  of  ten  thousand  dollars  and  be  provided 
with  a  suitable  executive  residence;  5  —  The  pardoning  power  is  vested  in 
the  governor  and  comprises  reprieves,  commutations  and  pardons  after  con- 
viction;  6 — In  case  of  the  Governor's  impeachment,  removal  from  office, 
death,  inability  to  discharge  his  duties,  resignation  or  absence  from  the 
State  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  office  shall  devolve  upon  the  Lieutenant- 
Governor  ;  7  —  The  Lieutenant-Governor  shall  possess  the  same  qualifica- 
tions of  eligibility  for  office  as  the  Governor;  he  shall  be  president  of  the 
senate,  but  shall  have  only  a  casting  vote  therein;  8  —  The  salary  of  the 
Lieutenant-Governor  shall  be  five  thousand  dollars  per  annum  without  other 
compensation,  fee,  or  perquisite;  9  —  Every  bill,  before  it  becomes  a  law, 
must  receive  the  Governor's  signature  ;  a  bill,  vetoed  by  the  Governor,  must 
receive  the  votes  of  two  thirds  of  the  members  of  each  House  before  it 
becomes  a  law. 

Article  v  treats  of  the  methods  of  election  of  certain  State  officers,  viz.  : 
Secretary  of  State,  Treasurer  and  Attorney  General,  State  Engineer  and 
Surveyor  ;  also  of  the  appointment  by  the  Governor,  by  and  with  the  advice 
and  consent  of  the  Senate;  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Works,  and 
the  Superintendent  of  Prisons ;  prescribes  the  duties  of  these  latter  officials 
and  also  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  Land  Office,  the  Commissioners  of 
the  Canal  Fund  and  the  Canal  Board. 

Article  vi  deals  with  the  department  of  Justice.  Tt  comprises  twenty- 
eight  sections.  It  vests  the  power  of  impeachment  with  the  assembly, 
states  the  duties  and  terms  of  office  of  the  Chief  Judge  and  six  associate 
Judges  of  the  Court  of  Appeals  (elected  by  the  people) ;  of  the  jurisdiction, 
justices  and  judicial  districts  of  the  Supreme  Court;  of  the  terms  of  the 
Supreme  Court ;  of  the  various  City  Courts  throughout  the  State ;  of  the 
election  of  Justices  and  Judges,  and  their  compensation  ;  of  the  several 
County  Courts  in  the  State  and  the  local  judicial  officers.  It  deals  also 
with  the  election  or  appointment  of  Justices  of  the  Peace,  and  the  officers 
of  inferior  local  courts,  of  the  clerks  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  the  Court 
of  Appeals,  the  compensation  of  judicial  officers,  and  the  method  of  pro- 
cedure in  all  courts  in  the  State. 

Article  vii  treats  of  the  State  Canals,  and  of  the  credit  of  the  State, 
and  embraces  fourteen  sections.  It  creates  from  the  revenues  of  the  State 
Canals  a  sinking  fund  to  liquidate  the  Canal  debt  and  the  General  Fund 
debt-  abolishes  tolls  on  canals;  provides  for  a  tax  to  pay  the  expenses  of 
superintendence  and  repairs  of  the  canals,  and  for  an  annual  tax  to  extin- 
guish  the  canal   debt.     It  prohibits   the  leasing  or  sale   of    certain    State 


306  THE    CONSTITUTION. 


canals;  and  the  disposal  of  the  salt  springs  belonging  to  the  State.  It 
also  prohibits  the  payment  of  State  moneys  for  any  purpose  save  by  legal 
appropriation  and  declares  that  the  credit  of  the  State  shall  not  be  given 
or  loaned  to  any  individual,  association  or  corporation.  It  limits  the 
power  of  the  State  to  contract  debts,  except  in  case  of  invasion,  insurrec- 
tion or  war,  and  limits  the  power  of  the  Legislature  in  the  creation  of 
debts.  It  provides  for  the  safe  keeping  and  investment  of  the  sinking 
funds,  prohibits  the  liquidation  of  claims  barred  by  lapse  of  time,  and  sets 
the  limits  of  existing  claims. 

Article  viii  contains  eleven  sections  and  deals  with  the  creation, 
charters,  and  indebtedness  of  corporations  ;  with  the  responsibility  of  stock- 
holders ;  the  preference  of  bill-holders  in  case  of  the  insolvency  of  banks  ; 
with  the  incorporation  of  cities  and  villages,  and  defines  their  powers  of 
taxations,  assessment,  credit,  debts,  etc. 

Article  ix  in  a  single  section  declares  that  the  capital  of  the  common 
school  fund,  of  the  literature  fund  and  of  the  United  States  deposit  fund 
shall  each  be  preserved  inviolate. 

Article  x,  in  nine  sections,  prescribes  the  methods  of  choosing  or 
appointing  Sheriffs  and  County  Clerks;  of  the  Register  and  Clerk  of  the 
City  and  County  of  New  York  ;  of  Coroners  and  District  Attorneys,  and 
treats  of  their  terms  of  office  and  compensation. 

Article  xi,  in  six  sections,  provides  for  the  maintenance  of  the  State 
Militia,  and  excuses  from  service  upon  certain  conditions  such  inhabitants 
of  the  State  as  are,  from  scruples  of  conscience,  averse  to  bearing  arms. 

Article  xii  prescribes  the  wording  of  the  oaths  of  office  required 
from  members  of  the  Legislature  and  all  executive  and  judicial  officers. 

Article  xiii,  in  two  sections,  treats  of  amendments  to  the  Constitution 
which  must  be  agreed  to  by  a  majority  of  the  members  of  each  of  the  two 
Houses,  and  ratified  by  the  approval  of  the  majority  of  the  electors  of  the 
State. 

Article  xiv  is  in  thirteen  sections.  It  sets  the  times  of  elections  of 
State  officials ;  and  abolishes  certain  heretofore  existing  judicial  offices 
from  and  after  the  first  Monday  of  July,  1847. 

Article  xv  is  directed  against  bribery  and  official  corruption,  and 
embraces  four  sections. 

Article  xvi  provides  that  all  amendments  to  the  Constitution  shall  be 
in  force  from,  and  including,  the  first  day  of  January  succeeding  the  election 
at  which  such  amendments  are  adopted. 

Done  in  convention  at  the  Capitol  in  the  city  of  Albany,  the  ninth  day  of 
October,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-six,  and  of  the 
Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America  the  seventy-first. 


A    SELECTION    OF    BOOKS 

TOUCHING    THE    GENERAL    STORY    OF    THE 
STATE   OF   NEW   YORK. 

Space  does  not  permit  the  enumeration  here  of  the  very 
many  local  histories,  studies  and  monographs  devoted  to  the 
development  of  certain  sections  of  the  State  of  New  York. 
There  are  town  and  county  histories  innumerable  ;  there  are 
individual  biographies  in  great  numbers ;  there  are  pamphlets 
and  documents  of  special  or  peculiar  interest — all  valuable 
to  students  and  full  of  material  illustrative  of  the  rise  and 
progress  of  a  great  state.  But,  for  obvious  reasons,  this  list 
can  only  deal  with  the  few  leading  or  general  histories  of  the 
State  and  city. 

J.  R.  Broadhead's  History  of  the  State  of  New  York  in  two  volumes 
is  an  elaborate  narrative  history  of  colonial  days  from  1609  to  1691  ; 
\V.  Dunlap's  History  of  New  York  in  2  vols,  extends  to  the  year  1783; 
J.  D.  Hammond's  History  of  the  Political  Parties  of  the  State  of  New 
York  in  2  vols,  covers  the  political  history  of  the  State  from  1788  to  1841  ; 
J.  S.  Jenkins'  Lives  of  the  Governors  of  the  State  of  New  York  extends  to 
1850;  J.  S.  Jenkins'  History  of  Political  Parties  in  the  State  of  Xew  York 
covers  the  period  from  1783  to  1849;  J.  Macauley's  History  of  the  State  of 
Xew  York  in  3  vols,  extends  to  1800;  S.  S.  Randall's  History  of  the  State 
of  Xew  York  is  a  brief,  general  compilation  in  one  volume,  extending  to 
1870;  Ellis  H.  Roberts',  Xew  York:  the  planting  and  growth  of  the  Empire 
State  in  2  vols,  is  issued  in  the  series  of  "American  Commonwealths," 
edited  by  Horace  E.  Scudder,  and  extends  from  the  discovery  to  the  year 
1887,  and  W.  Smith's  History  of  the  Province  of  Xew  York  is  a  colonial 
history  only  and  reaches  to  the  year  1762.  The  voluminous  collection  of 
the  Xew  York  Historical  Society,  the  "Documentary  History  of  New 
York,"  in  four  volumes,  compiled  by  E.  B.  O'Callaghan,  J.  W.  Barber's 
"  History  and  Antiquities  of  Xew  York"  and  J.  F.  Watson's  "Annals  of 
New  York  City  and  State  in  the  olden  time"  will  be  found  by  the  student 
to  contain  much  valuable  and  suggestive  material. 

The  City  of  Xew  York  has  had  its  story  told  in  more  or  less  detail  in 
the  massive  History  of  the  City  of  Xew  York   by  Mrs.   Martha  J.  Lamb 

307 


308  BOOKS  RELATING    TO  NEW   YORK. 


(2  vols.)  —  a  work  of  very  great  research  and  interest,  and  in  the  more  con- 
densed histories  of  Mary  L.  Booth  (extending  to  1859),  of  W.  L.  Stone 
(reaching  to  1870)  and  of  D.  T.  Valentine  (ending  with  1850).  A  "  Story 
of  the  City  of  New  York  "  by  C.  B.  Todd  has  also  just  been  published. 

The  hand  of  the  romancer  can  often  present  an  even  more  accurate 
picture  of  men,  manners  and  customs  than  can  the  less  unhampered  pen  of 
the  historian.  New  York  society  in  its  various  phases  has  furnished  a 
theme  for  many  a  story  teller. 

Colonial  New  York,  in  the  old  Dutch  days,  is  depicted  in  Mrs.  F.  H. 
Parker's  "Constance  Aylmer  " — a  story  of  Manhattan  in  1650;  in  J.  K. 
Paulding's  "  The  Dutchman's  Fireside,"  and  his  "  Book  of  St.  Nicholas  " 
and  in  Washington  living's  satirical  but  immortal  "  Knickerbocker's  His- 
tory of  New  York." 

Colonial  New  York  under  the  English  governors  is  drawn  in  P.  H. 
Myer's  "  First  of  the  Knickerbockers  (of  the  time  of  1673)  anc^  ms  "  Young 
Patroon  "  (1690)  ;  James  Fenimore  Cooper  in  his  "  Water  Witch  "  touches 
the  days  just  after  the  capture  of  New  York  by  the  English,  while  his 
"  Satanstoe  "  presents  a  study  of  life  in  Westchester  County  in  1750  ;  Mrs. 
M.  C.  Harris'  "  Sutherlands  "  is  a  pre-Revolutionary  story  of  an  old  manor 
house,  in  the  Catskill  region,  which  is  still  standing  midway  between  Catskill 
and  Cairo,  and  Elbridge  S.  Brooks  in  his  story  "  In  Leisler's  Times  "  gives  a 
picture  of  the  province  under  the  people's  governor,  Jacob  Leisler.  Cooper's 
masterly  "  Leather  Stocking  Tales  "  also  belong  to  this  period. 

Revolutionary  New  York  is  delightfully  sketched  in  Mrs.  Amelia  E. 
Barr's  "  Bow  of  Orange  Ribbon  " ;  in  Cooper's  famous  story  "  The  Spy  "  ; 
Grace  Greenwood's  "  Forest  Tragedy  "  ;  David  Murdock's  "  Dutch  Dom- 
ines  of  the  Catskill  " ;  C.  F.  Hoffman's  "  Grayslaer :  a  romance  of  the  Mo- 
hawk" ;  Henton's  "  My  Comrades,"  like  "  The  Spy,"  a  tale  of  "the  neutral 
grounds,"  and  in  E.  P.  Roe's  romance  of  the  Highlands,  "Near  to  Nature's 
Heart." 

The  Anti-rent  troubles  of  1750,  1784  and  1845,  furnish  the  motive  of 
Cooper's  tales  of  "  Satanstoe,"  "  The  Chain-bearer"  and  "The  Redskins." 

Novels  dealing  with  New  York  life  and  manners  after  the  opening  of  the 
present  century  are  rather  social  than  historical,  but  H.  C.  Bunner's  "Story 
of  a  New  York  House  "  deserves  mention  beyond  all  others,  as  at  once 
the  most  charming  and  sympathetic  presentation  of  one  of  the  most  unique 
phases  in  the  ever  shifting  story  of  New  York. 


INDEX 


Albany  ;  first  settlement  of,  30 ;  becomes  an 
English  possession  and  receives  its  present 
name,  55  ;  development  of,  63 ;  position 
of,  138;  antiquity  of,  277. 

Andros,   Major  Edmund,  governor,  65,  67, 

71,  73- 

Anti-rent  troubles,  229. 

Arnold,  Benedict,  121. 

Assembly,  First  popular,  secures  "  Charter 
of  Liberties,"  71. 

Bancroft,  George  (on  New  York's  domain)  21. 

Beers,  Henry  A.    231. 

Benson,  Robert,  133. 

Bethune,  Mrs.,  opens  Sunday-schools,  187. 

Block,  Adriaen,  visits  the  Manhattans,  17. 

Books  relating  to  New  York,  307. 

Brant,  Joseph,  125. 

Brown,  John,  248. 

Buffalo,  war  record  of,  264. 

Bunner,  H.  C,  198,  208. 

Burgher  rights,  47. 

Burr,  Aaron,  155,  156. 

Butler   Colonel  John,  125. 

Canada,  invasions  of,  74,  88. 

Canadian  revolt  of  1839,  221. 

Chambers,  Captain,  tea  ship  attacked,  119. 

Cholera  scourge,  The,  208. 

Chronological  Epitome,  283. 

Clarendon,  Earl  of;  his  character,  53  ;  plans 
the  capture  of  New  Netherlands,  54. 

Clinton,  DeWitt,  153,  156,  162,  165,  169,  171, 
172,  198,  203,  204-6. 

Clinton,  Governor  George,  98,  141,  151,  163. 

Colden,  Cadwallader,  86. 

Colve,  Captain  Anthony,  Dutch  gover- 
nor, 64. 

Constitution  of  New  York,  303 

Cooper's,  "The  Spy,"  181. 

Corlaer  (see  Van  Curler). 

Davidson,  Lucretia,  186. 

Davis,  Andrew  Jackson  (see  Spiritualists). 

De  Lancej,  James,  86,  98,  117. 

Depew,  Chauncey  M.,  181. 

De  Peyster,  Frederick,  75,  151,  152,  162. 

Dongan,  Captain  Thomas,  governor,  71. 


Doty,  Lockwood  L.,  218. 

Drake's  "  Culprit  Fay,"  182. 

Dutch  Colonists;  composition  of,  26;  first 
arrival  of,  30;  character  of,  41,  66. 

Dutch  East  India  Company,  23. 

Dutch  Governors,  character  of,  26,  39. 

Dutch  West  India  Company,  24;  its  mis- 
taken policy,  50. 

1812,  war  of,  146. 

England  claims  the  New  Netherlands  terri- 
tory, 42,  50;  conquers  New  Netherlands, 
52  ;  goes  to  war  with  Holland  over  Ameri- 
can possessions,  57;  second  war  with  Hol- 
land, 63  ;  loses  New  York,  64 ;  gains  New 
York  finally  by  treaty,  65. 

English  Colonial  Governors,  character  of, 
26,  83. 

Era  of  Beginnings,  283. 

Era  of  Colonization,  284. 

Era  of  English  Dominion,  286. 

Era  of  Formation,  293. 

Era  of  Progress,  296. 

Era  of  Revolution,  291. 

Erie  Canal,  project  advocated,  171;  began, 
172,  176;  completed,  187;  opened,  188. 

Everett,  Edward,  on  panics,  254. 

Exchange,  First  New  York,  organization 
of,  60. 

Fernow,  Berthold,  40. 

Fire,  Great,  in  New  York  City,  215. 

Fitch,  John,  launches  first  steamboat,  144. 

Fox  sisters,  The  (see  Spiritualists). 

Frontenac  (French  governor  of  Canada), 
Aggressiveness  of,  82. 

Fulton's  steamboat,    171. 

Fur  trade  in  New  Netherlands,  20. 

"Golden  Hill,"  Battle  of,  114,  120. 

Gold  fever  of  '49,  the,  241. 

Greeley,  Horace,  196,  197,  200,  206,  207,  213, 
217,  225,  248. 

Griffin,  George;  204. 

Hale,  Nathan,  121. 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  151,  155,  163,  176. 

Hamilton,  Andrew,  86. 

Herkimer,  General  Nicholas,  121. 


309 


3io 


INDEX. 


Holland;   claims  and  Settles  New  Nether- 
lands, 16  ;  grants  American  trade  to  Dutch 
West  India  Company,  24;  loses  the  New 
Netherlands,  52  ;  protests  against  English 
occupation,  57;  declares  war  against  Eng- 
land, 57;  gives  up  New  Netherlands,  58; 
disregard  of   the  colony,  54 ;    second  war 
with  England,   63 ;    captures   New  York, 
64  ;  surrenders  New  York  finally  by  treaty 
45  ;  fatal  policy  of,  66. 
Horse-railroad,  The  first,  214. 
Hudson,  Henry,  discovers  New  York,  14. 
Hudson,  Maritime  importance  of,  198. 
Hunter,  Captain  Robert,  governor,  84,  95. 
Indians:   Dutch  policy  toward,  25;   trouble 

with,  49;  loyalty  of,  82,  in. 
Intemperance  in  the  colony,  98. 
Irving's  "  Knickerbocker,"  181. 
Jay,  John,  133,  140,  176. 
Johnson,  Sir  William,  86,  101-118,  122. 
Johnson,  Sir  John,  125. 
Johnson,  Colonel  Guy,  125. 
Kidd,  Captain  William  :  piracies  of,  83  ;  exe- 
cution of,  84. 
Lamb,  Mrs.  Martha  J.,  135,  2oj 
Leisler,  Captain  Jacob,  the  "  people's  gov- 

vernor,"  74;  execution  of,  75. 
Lewis,  Morgan,  178. 
Livingston,  Robert,  86,  117. 
Livingston,  Robert  R.,  133. 
Lockyer,  Captain,  tea  ship  sent  back,  119. 
Locomotive,  The  first,  214. 
Lossing,  Benson  J.,  238. 
Lovelace,  Governor,  60. 
Manning,  Captain,  surrenders  New  York  to 

Dutch,  64. 
Manhattan    Island,   Spanish    name   of,    16; 

first  settlement  of,  30.- 
Mexican  War,  New  York  in,  239. 
Miller,  Captain  William  (see  Millerites). 
Millerites,  The,  246. 
Morgan,  Edwin  D.,  260. 
Mormons,  The,  246. 
Morris,  Gouverneur,  133. 
Morgan,  William,  199,  200. 
Morris,  Lewis,  86. 
Morse,  S.  F.  B.,  237. 
"  Mother  Ann  "  (see  Shakers). 
"  Negro  plots,"  The,  91. 
New  Amsterdam,  First  view  of,  11 ;  (in  1657) 

33,  37;  surrender  to  English,  52. 
New  Netherlands;    earliest   trading   station 
at,  17,  32;  become  an   English  possession, 

52.  55- 
New  York  City  named,  55;  capital  of  United 


States,  138;   first   Sunday-school  in,  187; 
canal   celebration   at,    190;    in   1827,   J97? 
cholera  in,  208;  in  1835,  215;  great  fire  at, 
215;  in  1S45,  232;  in  1S50,  245;  banks  of, 
suspend  in  1857,  257;  in  1888,  271. 
New  York  (province)  named,  55  ;  made  part 
of   the    Dominion   of   New  England,  72 ; 
early  industries  in,  93  ;  commerce  of,  94. 
New  York  (State)  named,  130;  Constitution 
published,  133  ;  establishment  of  manufac- 
tories in,   166;    Constitution   revised,  179, 
180;    popular   education    in,    177;    literary 
growth,  180,  182;   land   monopolies,  194; 
real   estate  "booms,"   215;   growth,   215, 
232,  244,  271;  industries  of,  274;  position 
of,  278. 
Nicolls,  Colonel  Richard,  demands  surrender 
of  New  Amsterdam,  51  ;  governor  of  New 
York,  55  ;  policy  of,  57  ;  resigns  his  office, 
60. 
Oriskany,  Battle  of,  121. 
Panic,  of  1837,  217;  of  1857,  254;  of  1873, 

279. 
Parkman,  Francis  (on  fur  trade),  19,  20. 
"  Patroon   system:"    inauguration    of,   31; 

abolition  of,  230. 
Phillipse,  Frederick,  86,  117. 
Political  Parties:   151,  172;  Federalists,  141, 
152,  154,  156,  164,  199;   Anti-Federalists, 
141,   152,  163,  199;    Democrats,   152,  210, 
213,  218,  221,  261;  Republicans,  152,  156, 
161;  Tammany,  157,  162;  Bucktails,  157, 
162;  Martling-men,  162;    People's  Party, 
199;     Independents,    168,    199;    Clinton- 
Adams  men,  199;  Democrat  Adams  men, 
199;  Albany  Regency,  199;  Anti-Masons, 
199,203,227;  National  Republicans,  210, 
213,  227,  252,  260,  261;  Whigs,  210,  221, 
227;  Liberty  men,  210;  Abolitionists,  210, 
227,   228,   248,    251;    "Log    Cabin"   and 
"Hard    Cider"   days,   225;    anti-renters, 
227,  229,  230;  Free  Soilers,  227,  252  ;  Na- 
tive Americans,  237. 
Pompey  Stone,  The,  15. 
Pontiac  fails  to  rouse  the  Iroquois,  in. 
Railroads :   opening  of,  231,  growths  of,  272. 
Rebellion,  War  of  the :    New  York  in,  259, 

261,  262,  271. 
Revolution,  The:   New  York  in,  120;  Tories 
in,   122,   136;    prominent  families  in,  126; 
the  people  in,  128. 
Ring  rule,  279. 
Roberts,   Ellis  H.,   120,   121,  140,    196,    203, 

261,  264,  265. 
"  Rochester  rappings"  (see  Spiritualists). 


INDEX. 


3" 


Saratoga,  Origin  of,  233. 

Schools,  Common,  177-78. 

Schuyler,  Peter,  86,  88. 

Schuyler,  Philip,  93. 

Seward,  William  H.,  221. 

Seymour,  Horatio,  133,  163. 

Shakers,  The,  246,  247. 

Slavery:  instituted,  175;  decrease  of,  175; 
abolition  of,  176. 

Smith,  Gerrit,  226,  248,  251. 

Smith,  Joseph  (see  Mormons). 

"Sons  of  Liberty,"  100,  114,  119. 

Spanish  discovery  of  New  York,  14;  words 
in  old  Indian  names,  15. 

Spaulding,  Solomon  (see  Mormons). 

Spiritualists,  the,  247. 

Stevens,  John  Austin,  54. 

Stone,  William  L.,  117. 

Stuyvesant,  Peter  (or  Petrus);  character  of, 
26,  46 ;  titles  of,  32  ;  policy  of,  42  ;  surren- 
ders New  Amsterdam  to  English,  52 ; 
takes  oath  of  allegiance  to  England,  55. 

Syracuse,  Mob  at,  251. 


"Tea-party,"  New  York,  119. 

Tompkins,  Daniel  D.,  176. 

Tories,  Status  of,  122 

Tuckerman,  H.  T.,  165,  205. 

Van  Buren,  Martin,  162,  164,  165,  199,  204, 
206,  218,  222,  225. 

Van  Curler,  Arendt,  76  (note),  104. 

Van  Dam,  Rip,  86,  95. 

Weed,  Thurlovv,  200. 

Wilkinson,  Jemima,  246. 

William  of  Orange  becomes  King  of  Eng- 
land, 73. 

Willis,  N.  P.,  185,  232,  233. 

York,  Duke  James  of:  his  character,  53  ;  de- 
spatches an  expedition  against  New  Neth- 
erlands, 51;  obtains  patent  of  New  York 
colony  from  King  Charles,  54 ;  opposition 
to  democratic  spirit,  57  ;  obtains  new  patent 
from  the  king,  65 ;  makes  concessions  to 
the  people,  68;  becomes  King  of  England, 
72. 

Zenger,  Peter,  86,  95. 


THE  STORY  OF  THE  STATES 

EDITED    BY    ELBRIDGE    S.    BROOKS 

As  the  first  in  the  proposed  series  of  graphic 
narratives  descriptive  of  the  rise  and  development 
of  the  several  States  of  the  American  Union  this 
Story  of  New  York  seeks  to  picture  the  growth  of 
the  Empire  State  in  a  way  that  will,  it  is  hoped, 
be  found  of  interest  to  the  public,  but  neither  in 
manner  nor  in  method  is  it  to  be  esteemed  an 
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shall  follow  it. 

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THE   STORY  OF  THE   STATES. 

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several  of  which  are  already  well  toward  comple- 
tion, are: 


The  Story 
The  Story 
The  Story 
The  Story 
The  Story 
The  Story 
The  Story 
The  Story 
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The  Story 


of  California   . 

of  Massachusetts 

of  Virginia 

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By  Emma  M.  Connelly 

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By  Almon  Gunnison 

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<  i,  'IIP  m 


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